Hello Friends!!! I hope today will be a good one for you. Mondays always seem to get away from me quicker than other days. But it's an honor and blessing to lead my precious girls in Bible study at noon at FBC Pell City. They bless me so much more than they'll ever know.
Ok...so we're back to our spiritual gifts breakdown and I think we'll take a look at the gift of Discernment. This gift can be both a blessing as a curse because the discerner has the ability to read motives and analyze people with uncanny accuracy. This can be difficult at times because this gift can be perceived as one of being judgmental.
There's a big difference in judging and discerning though. Someone who is gifted with discernment has an ability to feel and understand motives. They are able to read both sincerity and insincerity easily and have what seems to be "antennae" to know whether situations "feel" right or wrong. My husband has this gift and he truly amazes me with his ability to discern a situation. So many times I'm so quick to see the "good" in everyone and he will tell me to hold on and watch -- there's more to the situation than meets the eye -- and he's right! Makes me so mad -- not really -- it's a wonderful quality and a very special gift!
Those with a discerning gift are able to distinguish good from evil, truth from deception, right from wrong, motives, and recognize accuracy from inaccuracy with regard to Scripture and interpretation.
When operating in the Spirit, a gifted discerner can play such a vital role in the lives of other believers and in the church as a counselor, pastor, friend and confidante. They would do well to work with young people and in leading Bible studies. They are natural detectives and enjoy digging in to see if they can find an answer to a pressing problem or situation. Discerning saints should be careful to let their answer seeking come from God's Word first and other authors and texts second less they get mixed messages and fall into confusion.
If operating outside or away from the Spirit, they may struggle with confidence in speaking their perceptions, be highly critical, analytical and judgemental or may be harsh rather than speaking the truth in love. They may even begin to doubt their gifting if discouraged in this state. They become suspicious and even paranoid if not careful. Remember, outside the Holy Spirit's guidance, the spiritual gifts are always the direct opposite of what they are inside His direction. A wounded discerner has a hard time with forgiveness and trust and Satan will use that to "keep a good man down". Fight back with Scripture - which is Truth and the only way to resist the devil so he will flee.
Great career choices for someone with this gifting might be in areas of criminal investigation, law enforcement, teaching, military intelligence, legal or banking, counseling, youth ministry, pastoring. Medical diagnostics might be a good career choice too since it involves problem solving and asking questions.
In the church, someone with the gift of discernment would do well to serve on Nominating or Search committees, personnel committees, as counselors, teachers or in youth or children's ministries.
The ability to assess and analyze a situation is a wonderful gift and the body of Christ would benefit from listening carefully to what a person with this gift has to say about situations. They are the "wise friend" who just seems to understand the outcome of a situation as it should be - or seems to perceive something to be wrong before a full picture unfolds. They are able to predict outcomes by analyzing events and have great memories too.
If you have this gift, don't doubt your ability - trust the One who gave it to you and stay in the Word of God. It's so important to do so, because it keeps your senses clear and pure - the enemy will attack a discerner with confusion if not careful.
Some Scripture references for the Discerner include: 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 John 4:1, 6 and Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 --
Peter had a gift of discernment - and Jesus actually used this gift to discern Satan speaking through Peter in Matthew 16:23.
As I said earlier though, it can be both a blessing and a curse -- be sure you check your motives and your heart before making a judgement call or else it might wound deeply if incorrect and out of the Spirit's direction. If someone lets you down or hurts you, don't hold a grudge - forgive. Remember all forgiveness is - is giving up your right to punish and giving the person or situation over to God. Withholding forgiveness is sin and rooted in pride because we are in essence saying that we can handle the situation better than God can. Holding a grudge or withholding forgiveness will separate us from God quickly...don't give the enemy a foothold.
Next Monday we'll continue with looking at prayer and intercession. Don't forget, if you haven't taken a gifts inventory in a while, please visit...http://www.teamministry.org/ and take the online spiritual gifts inventory there for free. They will email your results to you at no charge with a complete assessment of your primary and secondary gifts and where you can use them to build up the body of Christ...both inside and outside the walls of your local church.
I hope you have a wonderful day....see ya tomorrow for Kitchen Tuesday!!! Blessings! Amy
1 Corinthians 15:58 "Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for His Kingdom is a waste of time or effort."
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