"And keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith" (1 Tim 1:19, GNT) As beautiful as faith is, it is also a very dangerous thing that must be handled with care. It is a virtue that can be easily abused. There is a very thin line between faith and fanaticism; a very thin line between faith and self-conceit. This is why faith must be guided and protected to remain within the borders of righteousness. This is specifically why Paul commanded Timothy to keep faith and a good conscience, to balance faith with a good conscience, to check and balance faith with conscience. He said some people (and in this our time, it would be a lot of people) have failed to listen to their conscience and as a result have made a ruin of their faith. The King James version says such people have made shipwreck of their faith... they have met a disastrous and disgraceful end. The conscience is a constant reminder of what is good and what is evil. So many christians have, while professing faith and neglecting their conscience, hurt others or engaged in questionable acts and characters. They will always tell you that they don't care what people think of them or their action; that the only thing that matters is what God thinks. But this is not a Christian mindset or attitude. As christians, we must be conscious and mindful of the impression our life or action is making on people. We must not exercise the liberty of our faith to the detriment or offense of others..
This is why Paul admonished "strong" and "faith" people who could freely eat food sacrificed to idols to refrain from such if they observe that another "weaker" christian is getting offended by it..not just getting offended, but doubting the genuineness of their salvation. There are certain things we might want to do out of our strong "faith", but listening to our conscience will instruct us otherwise. Paul later tells Timothy, "I served God...with a clear conscience". The aim is not just to be approved by God alone; but to have a good testimony among people. Our faith must be guided and balanced with conscience to make the true impact that God intends us to.
Stay blessed!