Discernment Is Becoming A Lost Skill

When I look at the average believer today I am saddened by the lack of the ability to understand what’s going on in the spirit in any given conversation, let alone what’s going on in one’s own personal life. Too many believers walk in life as if they were never born again but only have the knowledge that God loves them and Jesus died to forgive them.

“Discernment” is a very important ability that has a very simple definition:

DISCERNMENT:     The ability to judge well.

As a Christian, discernment is a process by which God helps an individual reach the best decision. The Latin root of “discernment” means to “separate” or “set apart.” In Christian life, it is the ability to separate good from evil, truth from falsehood, wisdom from foolishness.

To clarify, I’m not talking about “Judging” people because of the color of their skin, their nationality or their education. The word judgment often refers to condemnation or putting someone or something down.  Discernment has to do with evaluating things fairly for their motive, content and potential impact. Jesus spent a considerable amount of time warning people and his followers about being to quick to condemn something or someone. Judging someone and discerning where a person is coming from are two entirely different actions. 

Matthew 7:1     “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 

In the Old Testament, King David asked God for improvement in his ability to discern events and people because he realized he may have a bias or lack of information. He didn’t assume he knew enough to accurately assess events and people without God’s help. Wouldn’t it be best if we started practicing the same thing and always checked with the Holy Spirit before coming to a conclusion?

Psalms 119:125   I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

David’s son, Solomon, confessed the same thing as his father did when he realized he needed to always be gaining information from God to rightly judge any given thing in life. Remember Solomon was considered the wisest man on earth. The question then might be asked, why did Solomon get off track in his relationship with God and people? It had to be that he stopped asking for help in discerning things and people.

Proverbs 1:5  Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

Solomon went so far as to say that that wisdom is found in those who speak with discernment. He also said that without discernment we will encounter a harsh reality because we lack or have not acquired “SENSE”,  the ability to “Smell Out” events in life before they happen.

Proverbs 10:13   Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.

The idea that Solomon was trying to get across was that discernment can go to the heart of a person or it can just go into the mind and not their actions. The bottom line then is why are we learning more information if we are not applying that knowledge properly? Is it to just look smarter than the people around us or is it just to acquire more information for curiosity sake? Learning ultimately should be for making better decisions though this often doesn’t happen because we are not taught to be “Intentional” in the practice of learning.

Proverbs 18:15     The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

Here is the bottom line about our need for discernment. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit there will always be a lack of true discernment because he is the only one that can see what is hidden from our eyes. Everything is laid bare to the Holy Spirit but we are often fooled by appearances. More than ever we have been fooled by how a person comes across only to discover down the road that we were fooled by them and their intentions.

The real problem with people who claim to be Christian because they can quote many scriptures is that they lack any reliance on the Holy Spirit to help them walk in discernment. They just assume because they have accepted Jesus that the Holy Spirit came as a package deal in their salvation.  We gain the Holy Spirit’s guidance only when we seek it, not just because we love Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote about our need to purposefully choose to seek, ask, listen and be regularly filled by the Holy Spirit.(Eph 5:18).

1 Corinthians 2:14     But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

Paul talks to the Corinthian believers about walking in the “Natural” or walking in the Holy Spirit. When we as believers in Christ try to operate as solid Christians without the Holy Spirit’s help we, in a sense, act like non Christians.  The whole first part of 1 Corinthians deals with Paul trying to get this point across:  we have to apply the knowledge that we have access to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The book of Romans chapter 8 deals with the same issue of walking in the Spirit or walking in the natural.

Consider how discerning you are today and now that you will always need guidance and equipping throughout your life from the Holy Spirit if you are life a victorious Christian life. Paul goes so far as to say that if we fail to live with a discerning ability from the Holy Spirit we will in fact suffer harm.

1 Corinthians 11:31       But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.

Lastly, keep in mind that discerning is being able to “TEST” either a person or situation as to whether it is in line with the will of God. Part of the transforming Paul talks about is not merely memorizing scripture but rather being led by the Holy Spirit and not being led by our emotions or some other thing. Walking in the spirit is a life long journey and at any time we can drift away from our steadfast reliance on God, just like Solomon did.

Romans 12:2      Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

May the Holy Spirit grant us more and more discernment as we walk with God in our daily lives.

Questions:

1) How often do you seek the Holy Spirit for discernment? The whole idea of prayer is asking god for assistance. Start praying for discernment and see how the wonderful guidance of the Holy spirit kicks in.

2) Do you struggle with hearing from the Holy Spirit for discernment? One of the best things to do is ask him if there is any hidden area in your life that is hindering your spiritual ear, like David said in Psalms 66:18.

Love stretching my brain and spirit to think like God,

Pastor Dale