Language Lab: What Is “discernment”?

Language Lab: What Is “Discernment”?

Bible Blast: Read Proverbs 3:21-24

My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. Proverbs 3:21-22

A friend recently gave eight-year-old Lucy some trading cards with different characters on them. Lucy had never seen those kinds of cards before and had never talked about them with her parents or anybody. As Lucy looked down at the colorful pictures on the cards, she thought for a moment and said, “Mom, do these cards not make God happy?”

Her mom said, “I’m not sure, honey. Why?”

“I don’t know. I just think maybe they don’t,” Lucy answered.

“Well, if God is talking to you about those cards, you should probably listen to him,” her mom said.

Lucy said, “I think he is.”

Her mom asked, “Do you see anything on the cards that makes you think they’re not good?”

“No,” Lucy said. “I just think they’re not.”

Her mom came over to look at them, and they had some symbols on them that she, as a grown-up, knew were not good. Lucy could not have known, but God was telling her. That’s discernment.

Discernment is having the ability to tell right from wrong. God gives us the ability to discern what’s good and what’s evil even when it doesn’t seem very obvious. At times God has told me that a certain song was bad, or that a conversation with someone wasn’t safe and that I should leave. Sometimes he gives me a sense that I need to pray for someone. It’s not as if God says it out loud to me. But I get a feeling in my heart that God is speaking to me. Some people call it “women’s intuition,” but I think God gives girls discernment.

Philippians 1:9-11 talks about discernment, saying that it helps keep us “pure and blameless” for the day of Jesus’ return.

Do you remember a time when, like Lucy, you felt God telling you something was bad?

Girl Gab: Discernment grows as you grow in your faith, so always dig in for more wisdom and knowledge from God’s Word. Also ask him for discernment like this: “Dear God, I want you to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong so I can make the best decisions to love you. Give me discernment, and help me to trust your voice. In Jesus’ name, amen.”