~ The Spiritual Gift of Discernment
~
Opening Comment ~ “Do not be deceived, my beloved
brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes
down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning. Of His own will He brought us
forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His
creatures” (James 1:16-18).
Serving Gifts ~ Within the Service Sector we compared the
Spiritual Gift of Serving with non-profit organizations in society. The Gift of Going / Mercy was likened to
Missionaries, while the Gift of Helps is a parallel for food banks and similar
organizations. The Gift of Hospitality
was compared to the travel industry, and the Gift of Leadership is a direct
parallel to leaders throughout society.
The Gift of Administration is a clear counterpart to managers throughout
society. Gifts of Discernment are
similar to counselors in society.
The Gift of Discernment ~ The God-given ability to see beyond the
surface and obvious factors to more subtle, but very important factors.
The Gift of Discerning
Spirits ~ In our
society many would consider this a sub-set of a larger category of the Gift of
Discernment. “The
‘discerning of spirits’ means the ability to distinguish between the false and
the true.” –J. Vernon McGee
“The God-given judicial ability to stand over people in
order to detect a genuine or non-genuine motive by distinguishing the
spirit-source behind any person's speech or act.” –Loren Fischer
Scripture ~ “There are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit. There are differences
of ministries, but the same Lord. And
there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in
all. But the manifestation of the Spirit
is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of
wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same
Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by
the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to
another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each
one individually as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches
but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly
judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’
But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians
2:13-16).
Traits ~ The person with the Gift of Discernment
will typically; 1) pick out quickly the Biblical principles which pertain in
making a decision, 2) pinpoint the source of difficulty when evaluating a
situation, 3) will spot a weakness in a presentation and speaks out when others
are being misled, and 4) rely heavily on their own intuition and will exercise
caution so as not to reach a conclusion too quickly.
The person with the Gift of Discerning Spirits will typically;
1) recognize if the intentions of a person are good or bad, 2) have a tendency
to be critical of others and to question their motives, 3) sense the hidden
motives in why people act as they do, detects hypocritical tendencies in self
and others, 4) trust their personal insight to detect when people are not what
they claim to be, and 5) find it hard to accept the good a person offers, if
the person does not live up to his profession.
Closing Comments ~ “Let no one despise your youth, but be an
example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in
purity. Till I come, give attention to
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you,
which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the
eldership. Meditate on these things;
give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the
doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing
this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16).
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my
hands. For God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
“As each one has
received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
~ Robert Lloyd
Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
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