Ask yourself these questions for reflection.

• How is God renewing your heart?
• How have you been humbling yourself?
• How does wholehearted devotion to God impact your day to day life?
• Who have you served in response to the example of Jesus?

There is an educational maxim: “What you hear, you forget. What you see, you remember. What you do, you know”. Will you forget most of what you have heard? See God’s maxim in James 1:22. Don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says.

1 – How do you make choices/take decisions?

Wisdom is a prerequisite for discernment. How do you determine truth from error? How do you determine which direction to take? We have many decisions to make each day. Here are two practical suggestions for the prerequisite to discernment.

• Read, re-read and keep reading Proverbs. This book is practical wisdom. How many proverbs do you know?
• Develop a healthy fear. We need to fear God. See Proverbs 1:7.

Go ahead and ask for wisdom!

2 – A working definition

See 1 Kings 3:9. Discernment is the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong. Let’s break it down.

• Skill – practice it. See Hebrews 5:14. With practice you get better at things. We need to be skilled in God’s Word.
• Understanding and applying. This is God’s filter.
• Separating – There are differences that exist.
• Truth from error – doctrine and theology. This impacts what we believe. We need to be clear on truth and error. Doctrine and theology is for all and it is important. See John 17:16-17.
• Right from wrong – a moral dimension. Do we set our own standards? This impacts how we live.

Categories: 1 Kings