Okay, ladies. Here’s the thing. We need discernment. And somewhere deep down in our hearts, in the same place where we know we should eat less chocolate and stop binge-watching when we finish this episode (okay, maybe after the next episode), we know it.
We know we should be using our brains. We don’t want to be deceived and led away from the truth. We know it’s important to be grounded in Scripture.
But is that it? Why do we need to learn to discern? For the same reason we eat less chocolate and feel bad about binge-watching? (Which, I’m pretty sure, is because we think we’re supposed to be unhappy to learn how to become happy or some such nonsense like that.)
Of course not. So why? Why, as Christian women, do we need discernment?
Discernment Isn’t Punishment
Well, first, discerning is not a punishment. It is not God’s way to ensure we’re miserable.
Seriously, discernment not some sort of penance for our sins. And while it sometimes seems this way, it’s not because holiness (which we want) always means boring and painful (which we avoid like the plague). God hasn’t picked the hardest, most mundane way for us to know him and mandated that we find him that way. He hasn’t.
And yes, I get that discernment isn’t sparkly and fun all the time. I mean, I like it, but I know I’m weird. For most of us, though, the thought of having to think our way through anything (much less, everything) makes us want to cry.
And so we avoid it. We give up before we ever try. It’s easier to just stick to our feelings. If it’s pretty to look at and makes me feel gooey on the inside and mentions God or Jesus, then it’s good, right? And if it’s not perfect, we’ll neither am I. So how much harm can it do?
Well, a lot actually. And probably okay isn’t good enough. (When we look at Genesis 3, we’ll see why.)
But we have to get clear in our heads that discernment is not a punishment, a way for God to remove all fun from our lives by making us holy in the most painful way possible.
It’s Also NOT an End In Itself
It’s super easy, especially if we believe God prefers to use painful tools to shape our holiness, to think that discernment is an end in itself. It’s not. God’s goal for us is not that we “get” discernment.
Discerning is not how we determine that there is right and wrong. We can’t use it to prove the reality of absolute truth or morality or the inerrancy of the Bible. In fact, if you aren’t already convinced that right and wrong exist, that the Bible is true, then you have no need of discernment.
Too often, we think discernment is about the conclusion. It’s not. We don’t need discernment because we need to know whether there is right or wrong. We need discernment to determine whether something in particular is right or wrong, to see how close a specific message comes to the truth we already know exists.
It’s How We Find The Path
Discernment isn’t a conclusion. It’s a lens that helps you evaluate a conclusion. It’s not the moment you cross the finish line, but how you run the race.
Discerning isn’t about getting a specific answer from God—about our lives, our kids, our future, or our calendars. It’s not. It’s not about a doctrine or a decision. We don’t need discernment to discover THE TRUTH.
Instead, learning to discern helps us recognize which is a good path and which is not. Having already recognized that Truth exists and God’s Word is the source of it, then we can discern what messages match the Word and learn to recognize the threads of that truth all around us.
We need discernment because it’s the pattern of thinking that allows God to weave himself into our mind and heart and life on a daily basis. It is not the conclusion itself. But by living a daily pattern of discernment, we can be sure we will end up where God always intended for us to go.
And if we’re honest, that’s what we really want after all. Not so much the firm conclusion, as safe passage on our way there. That’s the power of discernment.
