The Idolatry of Personal Preference
Reformlet Shortlink: reformlet.com/preference
Personal preference has become a modern idol. Countless Christians treat the commands of God as optional so long as they do not feel personally bothered by their disobedience. The question is simple and painfully revealing. Why do so many believers act as if conviction is the standard of righteousness instead of the Word of God that will judge them on the last day?
Sin is never defined by how we feel about it. Sin is “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Sin is the violation of God’s revealed will. Jesus said His words will judge every man (John 12:48). God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Scripture is not waiting for our internal confirmation before it binds our conscience. It binds us because God has spoken.
Many Christians reverse that order. They live as if obedience becomes obligatory only when they feel it deeply. If a command seems uncomfortable or inconvenient, they file it under “personal conviction,” then claim liberty where God has given none. This is rebellion. It is the worship of self disguised as personal piety.
Romans 14 does not rescue us from obedience. It deals with matters God has left indifferent, not commands He has laid down with clarity. Paul says that “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). He does not say that a lack of conviction creates moral neutrality. The psalmist declares, “Your word, O Lord, is firmly fixed in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89). God speaks with authority. Our preferences do not.
To treat obedience as a matter of preference is to enthrone the self in the place of God. The conscience is not the voice of personal desire. It is the internal witness that must be shaped, disciplined, and ruled by Scripture. When God commands, the only faithful response is submission. Anything less is idolatry.
Semper Reformanda
Objection: “It is only sin for me if I feel convicted.”
Response: Scripture does not allow this excuse. Conviction is not the measure of guilt. Truth is. When God names something as sin, it is sin for every person. The conscience can be weak, confused, or seared. Romans 14 speaks about food and days, not adultery, not worship, not obedience, and not matters where God has already spoken. To rely on personal conviction in the place of Scripture is to elevate the self above God.
Objection: “Romans 14 gives freedom to follow our own views.”
Response: Romans 14 gives freedom only in matters where God has given no command. It never authorizes Christians to override God’s law with personal preference. Christian liberty is the freedom to obey, not the freedom to ignore God’s voice.
Truth That Withstands
God’s Word defines righteousness for all people. Personal preference does not cancel obligation. Obedience brings joy because it aligns the soul with the will of God. The path of wisdom is the path of submission to Scripture. Where God speaks, we follow. Where He commands, we bow. And where His Word confronts the idols of our own desires, we repent with gladness and walk in the light.