Spiritual discernment………

“For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things--

That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition].”   Col. 1:9-10 AMP

By discernment we are able to know the spiritual condition of a person.

By discernment we are able to detect the presence of evil forces in a person, in a Church, place or organization. Therefore, we will know not to be there, not to deal with the person, or if we are gifted in dealing with the situation we will know what to do.  This ability is vital to keeping a ministry clean and the enemy from infiltrating a work of God.

By discernment we are able to detect falseness in a person or a message, we will be able to discern wrong or false motives and therefore a ministry is kept safe.

 By discernment we will know when a man speaks whether it is from the man’s soul or from the Spirit of God.

I believe every believer who has the Holy Spirit within him/her has discernment, I do believe that there are particular believers who are especially gifted with the ability to discern and because of this we should know who they are and pay attention to what they discern.

When an individual who has discernment concerning a situation or another individual’s spiritual condition you need to take heed to what they tell you especially if you have no discernment concerning the situation or you are too emotionally involved in the situation.  Otherwise dangerous things and serious results could be a by-product.

If we will walk in discernment the enemy will be thwarted from penetrating our ministry, our church and bringing to us destruction.  False messages will not come; but confusion, disharmony and aggravation will not come. 

The evil forces will be kept out, and the purity of the Lord’s presence will ever remain with us.  Yes, discernment is vital for with it the Church can know how to understand and assist people.  The Church will know how to remain true to the solid Word of God and the building up of the Lord’s Kingdom will be real and ever enriching.

May we each, by this simple post, realize that spiritual things are real and that there are both evil forces and good forces that ever cause us to be discerning.

People with the gift of discernment can:

Have a clear sense of right from wrong; truth from error; genuine motives from false ones.

Perceive deception in others.

Recognize inconsistencies between words and deeds.

Sense falseness.

Know whether a word or action is truly in accordance with God or not.

Cautions:

May be unloving and harsh when confronting others.

May remain silent instead of confronting others when needed.

May become too sure of themselves; lack humility, critical self-assessment,
or self-awareness.

May develop a negative "spirit of criticism" that is constantly critical of everything.

Personal Traits of those with Spiritual Discernment:

Perceptive

Insightful

Sensitive

Intuitive

Decisive

Challenging

Truthful

Ways to nurture this gift:

Develop an above average knowledge of the Bible.

Seek confirmation.

Maintain a spirit of openness to new insight; new discoveries.