When God created the heavens and the earth, He created
animals and humans. With this creation, He declared humans to have dominion
over the animals (Genesis 1:26, NKJV). Animals are instinctive and act based on
what they are naturally inclined to do. Humans however were blessed with a
conscience which defined by Oxford Dictionary as “An inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness
or wrongness of one’s behavior.” We can raise an animal from birth but
nothing is stopping them from attacking on instinct at any second. They are not
right nor wrong but instinctive. They cannot feel guilt only survival. Animals
are trained to identify with certain behaviors through positive and negative
reinforcement. God has given us dominion over the animals because of so. Due to
our conscience, God gave us the ability to rationalize and make wise decisions.
In Proverbs 14, it is stated that one who is “impulsive” (NKJV) which can be translated as “short of spirit” exalts folly. We have the gift of free-will and
choice in oppose to being limited only to instinct and acting irrational. We
are to not allow our every emotion and action to be known (Proverbs 14:33, NKJV).
Therefore, when we do act impulsively we are degrading ourselves to that with
which we were meant to have authority over. When we conform to anger, lust, and
all things separate from the fruit of the Spirit, we are showing that we have
no self-control. Discipline is a fruit of the Spirit, along with “joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, and gentleness” (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV). We are called to
be disciplined creatures not trained creatures. It is not our instinctive
actions that will preserve us but our discretion (Proverbs 2:11, NKJV). So
before you “go off” on your co-worker who has been talking about you behind
your back or that person that skipped you in line or took the parking space
that you have been waiting for; before you say yes to the craving of another
drink although you know you have already had one too many. And before you
succumb to the fleshly desires of sex with someone not your spouse, remind
yourself, “I am not an animal, God has granted me authority over animals.” Like
Jesus, we are to walk according to The Spirit, not our flesh (Romans 8:1, NKJV)
because to walk according to the flesh will cause us to “die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you
will live” (Romans 8:13, NKJV).
- Oxford Dictionary, 2014. Term "conscience" retrieved from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/conscience
- NKJV, New King James Version Bible
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