Maegan Discusses Morality

When I was being brought up, it was taught to me that God gave us a conscious (or morality), and that conscious is God’s way of convicting us about the things that we have done wrong. This train of thought, though not malicious, has caused many problems with my faith. This made me think that I knew what was right and wrong and allowed me to decide my own morality and call it God’s morality. This teaching isn’t biblical. I learned that it wasn’t this year at The Well while going through Romans. In Romans 7:7 Paul says “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” Paul said he would not have known what sin was without the law. That means he had no “inner voice” telling him what was right or wrong.

This revelation changed everything for me. Not only did it mean that I was not able to determine for myself, apart from the scriptures, what is right and wrong, but it also meant that just because something feels right or wrong doesn’t mean that it is. This may seem like a small distinction, but I hear people talk about how something feels all the time. When discussing whether something is sinful, one might say “Well, it doesn’t feel wrong,” but ultimately how something feels does not matter. For example, to an abused child, telling someone about what has happened to them may feel wrong to them, because it has been drilled into them not to tell, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. On a smaller scale, say someone you love is making bad life decisions, calling them out on it may not feel so good, but it helps them from going astray, and that is how we are called to deal with arguments according to Matthew.

This was so important to me because I struggle with guilt, and just because I feel guilty about something, doesn’t mean that I did anything wrong. Also, just because it doesn’t feel good to confront someone, doesn’t mean I have an excuse not to. I had a friend who was in a relationship that I knew was not good or healthy. When they got engaged, I decided not to get involved. I was so worried about her reaction towards me that I was willing to let her make a life-long decision I knew would be bad. It didn’t feel like my place to tell her. We were best friends. If we tell ourselves that we have the ability, apart from scripture, to be able to “feel out” what is right and wrong we are lying to ourselves. God is the judge of right and wrong and we must look to him for the distinction.

About The Author:

Maegan Golenor is a sophomore English major. She joined the Wesley Foundation in the winter of her freshman year. She loves Eucharist, is an avid meme historian, and speaks mainly in pop culture references. Her love for Jesus is extraordinary and growing everyday!