This is one of the most important lessons that God has taught me and walking in it has changed my life. I did not always desire discernment because I wanted to live ignorant, head in the clouds and just focus on being happy, which is a form of escapism. But part of maturing in Christ is the desire to know what is really going on. When you know better, you do better.

The Need for Discernment

Discernment keeps us protected. I believe the reason that so many Christians get caught up in bad situations is because they lack discernment. You see, spiritual discernment will tell you to make a right instead of a left, and only God knows that if you made that left you would of been robbed. Instead, making a right kept you protected. Discernment will give you the knowing to stay away from certain people or to connect with others, you may not know why at the time but God knows. That reminds me of this example,

Recently, a friend called me from Hawaii and desperately asked me to pray for her grandaughter, “She is such a good girl, never got in trouble but then she met this man. She was with him when he did a crime and now she is going to prison for life.”

You see connecting to just one wrong person can change the entire course of your life.

Discerment will keep us from saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, going to the wrong places, getting involved with the wrong people. It helps us make the right decisions, decisions that we won’t regret later.

Discernment is not always meant to discern right from wrong, It’s also knowing the differance between right and almost right. So we can make the better choice.

Our Current Culture

As you know, we are living in crazy times and our culture is calling good evil and evil good. Discernment and wisdom will help us navigate these times we are in. We need to be able to discern the truth from the lies. the lies being pushed on us from the media, government and our culture.

I’m reminded of another example of God’s protection through discernment. I have always been bold and fearless with a fight for justice to my core. So when chaos was erupting in America, I wanted to take a stand. Well, there was a rally going on not too far from me that I could of joined, but for some reason I felt not to go. I wasn’t sure why but I knew I wasn’t suppossed to go.

Come to find out, that event ended in complete chaos, people getting arrested and some even got injured. As I watched the aftermath on the news, I thanked God for discerment. He protects those who are sensitive to his leading instead of being driven by emotions. Being able to discern who, what and how is crucial, it keeps us protected.

My favorite book of the bible, Hebrews says this:

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” – Hebrews 5:14

Ask God to give you discernment, wisdom and then be sensitive to his prompting friends. You will be thankful you did.

Stay Encouraged, Leah