Basics of Discernment

One of the key things you learn to do as a believer is discerning anything that comes your way.

Whether that’s a thought, an idea or anything else.

We are bombarded with thousands of things everyday.

How do we know if it's myself, God or even Satan ?

It is through this process, you not only strengthen your ability to discern things but also become “wiser” through experience.

Here are a few tips to help you out.

Even for any information you see me share, I encourage you to use your own discernment on it.

1. Ask God

The surest way to verify something is to ask God in prayer.

Seek the Lord for wisdom and understanding, and ask the Holy Spirit for help.

He may not answer right away but continue to pray, and eventually he will make it known to you.

Whether it's a verse, dream, vision, surroundings and more — there are various ways he can make things known to you.

2. Aligns with word of God

The second best way to make sure if something is from God or not is to make sure it aligns with the teaching of the bible.

The principles, values, and concepts from a biblical perspective.

That’s another very good way to verify if it's from God or not.

Q: Does this align with the teaching from the bible or not ?

3. Be renewed in Christ

To understand the things of the Spirit, we have to renew our mindset in Christ and to be of Christ.

That means seeing and understanding things from the “spiritual” perspective.

This ties in well with #2, where we educate ourselves about the things of the Spirit from resources like the bible, church, pastors, videos, books, and other resources.

And slowly, we will be able to renew our mind to see and understand from that perspective.

4. Holy Spirit will lead and guide you

The Holy Spirit is given to all believers upon accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.

He will sharpen our discernment in ways we didn’t know was possible.

Which is why he is often referred to as “Spirit of wisdom and understanding” and “Spirit of counsel”.

Don’t be afraid to lean on the Holy Spirit to discern things.

5. By the fruits

This one is more relatable, and obvious for most people.

Basically, it's the saying of “actions speak louder than words”.

Is this it ? of course not.

The things of God are deep and filled with richness.

So, consider this a basic list I found helpful to discern things but it's not an exhaustive list of everything.

That’s because God may even help and show you things through the Holy Spirit that he doesn’t show to other people.