Moral Fortitude

Ever find your self waffling on a decision you made?  Don't feel alone, you're in good company.  We are often tempted to hold out for more information before making difficult decisions in life but that is a luxury we don't always have.  There are times when the long awaited decision has to come to culmination.  Providence often works this way, slowly painting us into that proverbial corner until we have "no choice" but to jump for the door.  To the observer, it may look like you may be overreacting or are even being foolish.  But only you are walking in your shoes, so you have to go by your own conscience or "heart" as some translations in the Bible put it.  But can we trust our conscience as a guide?
A popular Christian author and speaker was teaching on this subject this week and it was very well timed for me I must admit.  His text was from 1 John 3:19-22.  It has always been a difficult passage for me to fully understand.  'Our hearts can be assured knowing if our heart accuses us we can know God is greater than our heart.' (My paraphrase)  It always sounded like circular logic and commentaries rarely helped all that much.  So, here is the way I parsed this scripture after hearing his messages and some more thought on my own:

1.) 3:19 "..we shall know that we are of the truth.."  IF;
2.) 3:20 we believe that God is the creator of our conscience and knows all things in it and whether our guilt is based on truth or error.  If we in faith believe God will ultimately guide our heart through His truth... THEN;
3:) 3:21 having examined our conscience under the light of His Truth and finding no more reason for guilt then we'll have confidence again... WHEN;
4.) 3:22 we see our prayers answered and our faith is expressed by obedience to those things that we know pleases God, namely loving our brother.

Sounds more like a process then merely a statement doesn't it?  So the acid test is love.  That's where gross misinformation can happen though.  A lot of people think love is always warm and cozy, furry and soft, comfortable, non-invasive, uncontroversial, tolerant, convenient.  But Biblical love is at its most recognizable being sacrificial.  I was struck by the total absence of outside counsel to be sought as in Proverbs 11:14,15:22 and 24:6 in this passage.  In the end, the decision is ours.