Hearing His Voice #136

You can identify [false prophets] by their fruit.

Matthew 7:16

We hear lots of voices. We suspect God’s voice is in the mix somewhere, but we have a hard time distinguishing the others. Are we hearing our own thoughts? The deceptions of the enemy? The echoes of people who have tried to be our conscience in the past? The voices of temptation? How can we discern God’s voice in the cacophony of alternate messages?

Jesus told His followers they would recognize false prophets by their fruit. The same advice applies to false voices of any kind. Clearly, if the messages we hear are enticing us to sin, we know they aren’t from God. That’s easy enough. But what about the seemingly morally neutral ones? What about when we are asking for direction and every option might be allowed but not necessarily advisable? What about the voices that speak to our identity or our behavior, and that may sound like Scripture, but also may be distortions of it? One key to discernment is to look at the fruit.

Consider the fruit of the Kingdom: goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17); the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23); and the fruit of a redeemed mind: thoughts about whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8). If the voice leads you toward spiritual fruitfulness, it’s probably God speaking. If it doesn’t—if it leads to fear, guilt, doubt, anxiety, exasperation, and the sorts of attitudes that don’t fit the Kingdom—it isn’t God, it’s a voice from another source, a counterfeit bearing bad fruit. Knowing the difference will sharpen our hearing and keep our hearts and minds at peace.

Lord, help me recognize Your words by the environment they create within me. You may speak convicting, sobering words, but I know You will never oppress me with guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, or depression. Fill me with joy and peace, lift me up and inspire me, and give me rest with the sound of Your voice.