How to Have Christian Discernment

Often times, Christians have a hard time with discernment. Discernment is the ability to judge well. Sometimes, Christians focus too much on not judging, that they don't judge things when they really need to. Discernment is a spiritual gift, so some Christians are gifted to have more discernment than others. It is also something that any Christian can pray for. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." So you can pray for more wisdom and discernment. You can also get more discernment by reading the Bible. Here is what the Bible says about other ways to grow in your ability to have discernment.

Steps

1. Always remember to "test the spirits." 1 Jn. 4:1 says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

⦁ The reality is, one third of "angels" are fallen angels. Angels appear to human beings often, but the catch is to know if it is God's angel or a fallen angel. This is why John warns us to test the spirits.

⦁ There is the Holy Spirit and then there are evil spirits that are set on deceiving people, which can sometimes be in other people.

⦁ 2 Cor. 11:13-15 says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." This is referring to people who call themselves Christian but are actually not. John says a way to "test the spirits" is to see if they acknowledge that Jesus is God. That is the main way.

⦁ Also look at the fruit that a spirit produces, in a person, a church, a church leader etc. Is it the fruit of the Holy Spirit or not? Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruit."

2. Remember to always, always be wise. Jesus said in Mt. 10:16, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." Jesus wants us to understand evil without letting it make us evil. We need to be as "wise as a serpent."

⦁ In the Garden of Eden, Satan was a serpent. The reason Eve was deceived by him was because she was not as wise as Satan. Yes, "greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world," but if we try to outsmart Satan in our own strength, we wont be able to. He is the master deceiver. We need to give him more credit than we do. He is highly intelligent. So in order to have mastery over him, we need to study the word so that we become more intelligent than he is.

⦁ Paul said to Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:15, "From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The more we read and study the Bible, the more wise we will become.

3. Strive to grow into full maturity in your Christian walk. Hebrews 5:14 also says, "Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." The more we practice being able to tell good from evil, that is the more we judge situations based on what the Bible says, the more mature and wise we become as Christians. Then we will be able to eat solid food, which is the deeper things in the Bible. Then we will be able to see through Satan's schemes and lies, which is us having discernment.

⦁ In Eph. 4 Paul says that God has given us teachers etc. in the church to teach us, "So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." When we are a "baby Christian" we are not as discerning; we cannot see through Satan's schemes as well. But the more we learn, the more we grow, and we are then able to stand firm in our faith. We are no longer "tossed to and fro" by the waves of false teachings. We come to know our Bibles well and we know the truth, so we cannot be swayed.

4. Remember that Jesus said in the last days many false teachers would arise. Jesus said in Mt. 24:24, "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." He was talking about the end times, which we are in now. He said that their signs and wonders would be so convincing that almost even "the elect" would be deceived.

⦁ Most of the time when the Bible talks about signs and wonders in the last days it is referring to what false teachers will be doing. You can do a study on this and you will come to see that. If there are churches that have a lot of miracles happening but they are chaotic, know that God is not in charge there, because Paul says in 1 Cor. 14:33, "God is not a God of confusion but of peace." God's Holy Spirit would not lead to confusion but peace.

5. Watch out for teachings that cause division in the body of Christ. 1 Tim. 6:3 says, "If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people."

⦁ If there is a teaching that says that some in the body of Christ are better than others, in any way and for any reason, that teaching only produces quarrels, envy, dissention, friction etc. Try to focus on teachings that promote unity in God's body, not division.

6. Renew your mind. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." We cannot really have discernment until we allow God to renew our minds. This means cleaning out the old ways of thinking and bringing in new ways of thinking. This means allowing God to control our thoughts and not ourselves, and not Satan.

⦁ Also, as Christians, we can learn to hear God's voice. In John 10:27 Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." This is not an audible voice, but a quiet voice in our minds, our renewed minds. We can't hear God's voice if we are always listening to the world's voice. We have to empty our minds of the world in order to hear God's voice. We have to "be still and know" that He is God. We have to meditate and focus on God in order to really hear what He wants to say to us.

7. Be discerning of what a person's fruit is. Jesus said in Mt. 7:18-20, "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit......Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." A person may appear to bear good fruit but you always need to look closer. It could be just an act or a show. Are they genuinely loving others or just pretending to? Do they genuinely have peace or are they just good at appearing like they do? Are they patient, self-controlled, gentle, joyful, and generally good?

8. Always, always test what someone teaches against the word of God. Don't just take their word for it. See if what they are teaching is actually true. Learn to read and understand the Bible for yourself. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is who gives us eyes to see. So any Christian can see the truth for themselves. You do not need to depend on someone else to explains thing to you, if you truly do have the Holy Spirit inside of you.

⦁ In Acts it talks of a group called the Bereans. Acts 17:11 says, "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." The Scripture commended them for testing what Paul said against the Word of God. That is what they were supposed to do, and that is what we are supposed to do.

⦁ If a teacher is really teaching the truth, they won't be offended if you want to test what they say against the Bible, they will encourage it.

Tips

⦁ Get a Christian mentor that can help you grow in your Christian walk. Find someone that you can ask almost any question about the Bible and they will generally know what the answer is.

God bless :)