How do I know if I’m doing what’s right?

Our questioner writes: “We hear it said, ‘Let your conscience be your guide.’ But so many people make wrong choices from a misguided conscience. How can we tell if our personal decisions are right or wrong?”

This is an important question because it has to do with our eternal salvation. Obeying God’s will is fundamental to the well-being of our souls. “Let your conscience be your guide” was Jiminy Cricket’s advice to Pinocchio. We may have also heard this advice from parents and grandparents. This phrase, in fact, closely parallels one of our fundamental moral principles found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience” (CCC 1779). “Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as to personally make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters” (CCC 1782).

We respect the primacy of individual conscience, where each person enjoys the freedom and autonomy to choose the course of action that best conforms to the will of God for humankind. God has given us the gift of conscience as a share in the divine image. “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment” (CCC 1776).

Conscience, the inner voice of God communicating his divine will, serves as the moral compass guiding the course of our actions. The great problem, as our questioner notes, is that we hear so many contrary voices from the world around us and from the Evil One himself. These voices act as a magnetic force deflecting our moral compass, drawing us off course while we navigate the stormy seas of life in today’s culture. Sadly, so many children and young adults are being formed in a society whose values have strayed far adrift of those found in the Scriptures and the Church. So how can we know if we are really doing the right thing when we “let our conscience be our guide?”

Young and old alike are subject to formation in the false values presented in so much of today’s movies, music, magazines, and social media. We need to limit our intellectual diet of these secular sources in favor of the more spiritually enriching nutrition God offers through the Scriptures and the Church. Reason enlightened by faith is the basis for proper moral decision-making, so we need to do all we can to open ourselves to the guiding light of faith. Relying on our own intellect without the resources of faith is akin to a ship navigating at night without the aid of compass and headlight. To stay on course, we must submit to the wisdom of God’s Word and the authority God has established to guide us.  

Laxity of conscience is the predominant source of erroneous judgment in today’s world, arising from an “anything goes” attitude. For such persons, there is really no sin. Others fall prey to the rigors of an overly strict conscience, fearing almost everything they think or do is sinful. To reach a proper balance in discerning moral right and wrong, we need the assistance of the Scriptures, our church magisterium—the teaching body of popes and bishops—and the collective wisdom of Tradition handed on over the ages. Contemporary problems such as medical and bioethical issues require ongoing reflection on the part of our church authorities as well. “In the formation of conscience, the Word of God is the light for our path. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church” (CCC 1785).

We have a responsibility to keep ourselves informed on the Church’s teaching. “The education of the conscience is a lifelong task” (CCC 1784). Personal prayer and study of the Scriptures, paying attention to informative homilies at Mass, reading Catholic books and periodicals such as New Earth, listening to Real Presence Radio, and subscribing to Catholic media outlets such as Formed.org will all help shine the light of faith on our path. There is a rich treasury of resources available to bring deeper knowledge of our faith and moral teachings into hearts and homes today.

We must first be confident of being on course if we are to save our own souls. Then we can better assist the formation of our children and youth, the responsibility of parents and of the Church as a whole. The Body of Christ, eager to follow the word and way of Jesus, will do well to ask our Blessed Mother’s intercession for assistance in our moral choices. Her life was one of obedient service to the will of God, and she is most eager to see us, like the servants at the wedding feast of Cana, listen to her son and “do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).