The ability
to evaluate and judge well is important to making good decisions. God has a
plan for our life so also is the enemy. Discernment helps us to embrace God’s
and battle the enemy’s. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher said, “Discernment
is not simply telling the difference between right and wrong, rather it is telling
between right and almost right.” Because of our fallen propensity, we believers
need to be more watchful over our moral. And as we ruminate over these verses,
we will realize that God expects us to be authentic in our commitment and be
people of integrity. We are also encouraged to be impartial in evaluating matters
and be modest in self-evaluation. And in all business dealings we are expected
to be straightforward and honest. Hence, being discerning becomes an indispensable
quality we must develop. It will enable us to live discerningly in a world of perplexities.
Verses 5-6 tell
us the necessity to identify the real intention of a person. Like deep water underneath
the surface of earth, a person’s real intentions are concealed. What he says
may not necessarily represent his real intention. It takes skills and
discernment to draw understanding of his intention and draw out his hidden
thoughts. Be mindful that many people may talk about their loyalty but what is
said may be furthest from reality and truth. People lacking integrity are long
in promises and short in performance.
Verse 7 is
an exhortation for parents. It is a call for parents to model integrity. They
must live with sound, moral and godly principles in life. When these qualities are
obviously clear and discernible in their lives, their children will have great examples
to emulate. Truly blessed are children whose parents clearly model these values
for them.
Verse 8 refers
particularly to a king on his judgement throne, which many of us are not. We
shall look at it from the perspective of people in leadership role. Let’s look
at it from our roles as fathers, mothers, employers, supervisors or people whom
others look up to. In those roles, we often are called upon to mediate the differences
between the people we are leading. We must be distinguished by our impartiality.
Like a discerning king we need to shift and evaluate between what’s true and
right and what’s not from all that we hear. We must discerningly arbitrate the
situation fairly and correctly and dispel all wrong so that they will not be
perpetuated.
Verses 9-10
call for personal discernment. We must not be self-deluded or deceived to think
that we are flawless. Paul in the letter to the Romans tells us, but for the
grace of God given through Christ, there is none righteous, not even one. If we
don’t exercise personal discernment, we may be deceived to believe that we are more
than what we truly are. Lacking personal discernment will lead a person to
self-deception, often displayed in conceit and self-righteousness. Without personal
discernment, people could be blinded by a false perception of themselves, that
they will strut around like a peacock pridefully oblivious to their spiritual deadness.
Illustrating with weight and measures, verse 10 tells us not to measure others
with standards that we ourselves are not prepared to keep. A godly and
discerning person would not do to others what they would not do to themselves. We
must treat others as we will treat ourselves.
To put it
simply, action always speak louder than words. What we do will depict more
clearly than what we can describe in a thousand words. A key way to discern is
an accurate observation. We are encouraged to be transparent and straightforward
in action. Be childlike and act without guile. No wonder Jesus tells us to be
as honest and innocent as little children. Why? Because a young child has not acquired
the habit of hiding their true intention like an adult. When they are properly instructed,
and shown the right model to live, they will learn to live life discerningly. Verse
12 is telling. Our ability to discern accurately through observation or listening
are gifts from our LORD. We must deploy them to accurately discern every aspect
of life. We must use the faculties of sight and listening to rightly discern
the good and right way to live. Remember that spiritual truths are spiritually discerned,
and we need to detect them with the help of the Spirit. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
2:9 that there are “Things which
eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the
heart of man (but) God has prepared them for us who love Him. So, let’s live
discerningly to His honor!
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