Thursday Ponderings

9th May 2013 Concerning Discernment!

If you listened to last weeks Thursday Ponderings about judging, you will have heard some strong warnings against judging others. However we are encouraged to judge in the sense of using discernment.

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Luke 12:57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” John 7:24 “Stop judging by mere appearances, instead judge correctly!” and 1 Corinthians 2: 15-16 “The person with the spirit makes judgements about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgements, for who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

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Jesus tells Simon that he has judged correctly in Luke 7:43. Hebrews 5:14 says that solid food is for the mature Christian who by constant use have trained themselves to discern what is good and what is evil. Discernment is listed as a gift of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:10, so it is clear that judging in a discerning way is supposed to be part of a Christian’s life.

So what is the key? It is the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had the delicate balance. He knew what was in people and was realistic about sin but He did not come to condemn. John 3:17 is clear about that. Jesus said God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world. His motive in discerning sin in people was always one of love. So next time you go to judge, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and wisdom as to whether you should open your mouth. If you have a judgmental though which is condemning ask for forgiveness.

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