Discernment: A gift, but also a mark of maturity

    Biblical discernment is defined as, " The ability to quickly perceive whether such things as people, events, or beliefs are pleasing to God."  It is taught in I Corinthians 11.  It is critical that the body of Christ is equipped with individuals who are blessed with this spiritual gift.  The Spirit has given these people an internal warning system that sets off a painful alarm in their hearts when truth is compromised, unity is threatened, satanic oppression is active, and wrong motives are under the surface.  I can think of many times our church or our  family was protected by this gift in action.  

    But, interestingly, I was touched by a scripture recently that taught me that discernment can also be learned through practice.  Look at Hebrews 5:14, "But  solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."  This is such good news for me!  It means that even if I have not been given the spiritual gift of discernment I can still be discerning if I'm growing in depth in the word.  Moving on from milky immaturity to meaty maturity will change the way I perceive and respond.  It will transform my decision making and my responses if I PRACTICE.  I have to exercise my discernment muscles!  It implies that I must work at it and discipline myself to have my mind rewired to the mind of Christ and my spirit filled and controlled by His Spirit.  

     This is a real relief to me.  Even if it is not my spiritual gift I can still learn discernment.  I need discernment on a daily basis for:

Decisions:  parenting issues, career, relationships, political issues, gray areas in christian liberties.

Protections:  recognizing danger, seeing potential for things to get out of hand, seeing how things could affect others negatively, seeing a sinister or selfish motive in another, seeing how one decision can effect another down the road.  

Reactions:  uncovering falsehood, exposing sin, revealing false teaching or error in interpretation of scripture, warning me against getting involved in something that would grieve Jesus.  

When I saturate my life with truth and keep in step with the spirit moment by moment, I can trust that inner voice because I have developed it and matured it over time.  I have to limit exposure to negative influences that seek to drown out that still small voice.  That is how we develop discernment through practice.  We will miss it sometimes and have to suffer the consequences.  but as we press on to maturity we can save ourselves a lot of pain and angst.  I'm asking God to develop this in me and to grow me in this area, to protect me and my family and to keep me from ever shaming His Name or hurting His flock.  Will you grow with me in this area?  Let's get in the meat of the word and get to practice!

Comments

[Pam Mcabee]

I will... Thanks Lori.