The wise Benjamin Franklin gave us this superb life counsel: 

“Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no ambition corrupt thee, no example sway thee, no persuasion move thee to do anything which thou knowest to be evil; so thou shalt live jollily, for a good conscience is a continual Christmas” (Carol Kelly-Gangi, ed., The Essential Wisdom of the Founding Fathers, 80). 

Who doesn’t want to have a “continual Christmas”? Dr. Franklin gave us the way to obtain it – resist evil and choose the right. That is Christianity in a nutshell, for, as the Old Testament teaches: “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). 

Fear, here, does not mean trembling, groveling, and servility. It means living with humble and faithful deference to our Master. It is a bold and confident form of living. John taught: 

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

“There is no fear in love; but perfect clove casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:16-18). 

In harmony with the thought that fear is the opposite of Christian discipleship and we ought to live boldly in the confidence that the Father and Son love us, the Apostle Paul taught that we should “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). 

The Lord did not redeem us to make us slaves; He redeemed us to free us. This includes freeing us from sin, death, hell, and, yes, fear. Everything He did and does is to bless us and make us better, wise, stronger, happier, and holier. In a word, His goal is to make us more like Him and our Father in Heaven.  

The Lord Jesus Christ gave many statements that we might consider “mission statements.” On one occasion, He said: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). 

The Christian life is the abundant life. No other lifestyle can produce the same level of lasting happiness, peace, and goodness. The Lord offers us more; a higher and more exalted means of thinking, helping, serving, learning, living, and being. 

We might draw a comparison between what Dr. Franklin called a “continual Christmas” and the “abundant life.” Achieving the abundant life requires us to infuse our lives with more Christ. We can’t have what He offered without Him. There is no salvation, and, ultimately, life, outside of the holy name of Jesus Christ. Only through Him can we access the newness and abundance of life promised to the faithful. 

It is through Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement that we receive forgiveness for the sins and mistakes we all make. It is through Christ that we receive the power to overcome temptation and evil. It is, then, through Jesus that we receive a clear conscience and the assurance that our lives are right before God. And it is this clear conscience which Dr. Franklin said is a “continual Christmas.” 

The word “conscience” appears only rarely in holy writ. When you search the etymology of the term, you find that it roughly approximates the “faculty of knowing” or being “with knowledge.” Having a conscience, then, is having knowledge within ourselves. The most commonly used scriptural word we can compare “conscience” to is light, or the light of Christ, which imparts knowledge. The light of Christ is an internal compass which can tell right from wrong. 

All people, Christians and non-Christians alike, have this internal compass. We can ignore its subtle warnings and deaden its effect upon us by ignoring it which amounts to us “having [our] conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). However, it is always there. It is a gift from God to all His children to aid us through the treacherous twists and turns and temptations of life. 

If a conscience can be compared to light, then it would help us all to go to the source of light. What is the source? Jesus Christ.  

The Apostle John taught powerfully that Jesus was and is the light of the world: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

“The same was in the beginning with God. 

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [the Baptist]. 

“The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 

“He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 

“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:1-9). 

Jesus was and is the Light. He is the Light that gives life – even the abundant life – to men. He is the Light that “shineth in darkness.” His holy light “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” This is the light of Christ. This is conscience. 

It is by going to the light, or, more appropriately, to the Light which is Christ, that we become happy and have a good conscience that makes life like a “continual Christmas.” The Lord taught this concept more completely when He said: 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

“But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:16-21). 

Perhaps it was of this inspired passage that Dr. Franklin was thinking when he said that rejecting evil and doing good produces a “good conscience” and a “continual Christmas.” Regardless, it is true that by coming to the Lord we come to the light, for He is the Light. By entering the light, we reject darkness, evil, and sin, and our deeds are shown, in that light, to be good, which gives us that confident assurance and boldness spoken of by Paul and John, and that “good conscience” spoken of by Franklin. 

If we want more Christmas in our lives, we need more Christ in our lives. If we want a “good conscience,” we need more light to expel the darkness and shine upon our good works. Yes, if we want more light, we need more of the Light of the world. The Master declared: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). 

One of the best pieces of advice I have yet seen for how we can choose the right was given by Dr. Franklin’s close associate, Thomas Jefferson. He wrote: 

“When your mind shall be well improved with science, nothing will be necessary to place you in the highest points of view but to pursue the interests of your country, the interests of your friends, and your own interests also with the purest integrity, the most chaste honour. The defect of these virtues can never be made up by all the other acquirements of body and mind. Make these then your first object. Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonourable thing however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing tho’ it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life and in the moment of death” (Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785). 

This is much to learn from this sage counsel. Honor and integrity are more important than any worldly accomplishment. No earthly accolade, status, or recognition can make up for a lack of honor and virtue. Therefore, if we want honor here and hereafter, we should stop before we do anything and ask whether we would be comfortable with God, angels, and all the world observing us. If we continuously practice this, we can strengthen our virtue, increase our integrity, deepen our honor, and develop our conscience.  

By not doing what we know is wrong and by doing what we know is right, we let the light of Christ which is in us shine. The Apostle Paul taught: 

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). 

We all have an internal compass, and we innately know what is right and what is wrong. We know this because the light of Christ “hath shined in our hearts.” That light gives us knowledge of right and wrong and points us to our Savior. It is that conscience inside of us that whispers to us and encourages us to goodness, peace, humility, service, and love. 

It is currently the Christmas season. But why should Christmas – a celebration of Christ – be only one day in the year? Why should we only let the light of Christmas – the light of Christ – shine in our souls one day each December? Why should we only feel the spirit of Christmas – the spirit of Christ – once a year?

By following the light, or, rather, by following the Light of the world, we shun darkness, bask in the warmth of Heaven’s rays, develop a good conscience, and live in the abundant life of a continual Christmas. It is my prayer that we may all let the light – which is the Light – into our hearts today and every day. By doing so, by walking in His holy ways, by being like Him, by rejecting evil, by doing good, we may enjoy a clear conscience and a continual Christmas. 

Zack Strong, 
December 17, 2023