Why? — Seared As With A Hot Iron

Is it normal for a person to have no conscience and be a hypocritical liar? No, it's not!

It is true that each person born into this world was sinful at birth — actually, sinful at the time of conception.

"Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time

my mother conceived me."

Psalm 51:5 (NLT)

But God has placed into each person the capability to distinguish between what is good and what is evil. This is our conscience. This is what makes a person feel guilty when he/she has committed a wrongdoing.

"And the Lord God said,

'The man has now

become like one of us,

knowing good and evil.'"

Genesis 3:22a (NIV)

Nevertheless, when a person constantly ignores his/her conscience and lives in continual sin without any repentance, his/her conscience becomes insensitive or numb to any feelings of guilt or remorse, just as if his/her conscience was seared with a hot iron.

"Such teachings come through

hypocritical liars,

whose consciences have been seared

as with a hot iron."

1 Timothy 4:2 (NIV)

Having a seared conscience does not happen overnight. It takes many years. This is the Biblical explanation of the worldly adjectives "psychopathic" and "narcissist." This is why certain people rape, kill, or abuse yet show no empathy.