Skip to main content

Discernment

             And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

 

This passage goes nicely with the material I’m reading for Sunday School. Let’s suppose it’s a typical day, and you are offered some treat. It could be anything from a piece of candy to a trip around the world, but it is something that you don’t need and find attractive (but, for the sake of simplicity, it’s not something anyone could call evil, wrong, or immoral. It does no harm to anyone except, perhaps, yourself.) Food is an easy example. It’s only been 2 hours since your last meal, so you’re not hungry. It might not be especially healthy, but it would taste wonderful. How should you decide whether or not to accept the treat? How do you decide?

If we’re dealing with reality, we should bypass the treat. At the same time, if we’re dealing with reality, we probably don’t. The treat is good, we tell ourselves.  Just this once, it can’t hurt. The excuses pile up because our focus is on the treat, and its goodness rather than on what is best. We may not even be able to discern what is best because the goody is there. It is “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6.) Or, if not wisdom, then joy, peace, or some other positive result. Maybe we will note that the good is not as good as we are claiming, and certainly not what’s best, but our bodies, our egos – seemingly everything in us – has another idea and even if we want to make a better choice, we can’t hear what it is.

This takes us back to the material for Sunday School. Prof. Willard suggests that if we would change, we must change our thinking first. To become the kind of person who doesn’t give in to temptation, we must do something about it before the temptation arrives. This is where we put vision, intent, and method. This is where we talk to God about what it would look like if were stood strong against this temptation. This is where we talk to God about what that “good” looks like to Him and why we should agree. This is where we practice being the kind of person we know we would prefer to be, if we could just resist the temptation. This is where we build discernment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more