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Discernment of the spirits is a special gift of the Holy Spirit that enables one to judge correctly whether gifts and other actions are from God or from another source. It means recognizing spirits and knowing whether they are good or bad. Spirits have no bodies and cannot be perceptible to human senses. Discernment of spirits therefore, is not an intellectual exercise. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can determine whether spirits are good or bad. The Spirit will lead you to all truth, (John 16:13).
It is the will of God that Christians know how to determine whether a spirit is good or bad. There are good and bad spirits and we encounter them daily. It is as a result of the presence of these spirits that the Holy Spirit advises Christians through John,
"My dear friends, not even spirit is to be trusted, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God: for many false prophets are at large in the world"(1 John 4:1).
In most places in Africa, these false prophets abound as different churches and sects dot the streets of many towns and villages. And there are so many prophets, healers and miracle workers that claim to preach Christ and milk people of their hard earned money. Sadly, many Christians change allegiance easily by going from one Church to another in search of miracles. Most certainly, many have been deceived as most of these miracle workers are wolves in sheep's clothing. Some Christians have been made to believe that all these churches and sects come from God. This is where exercising the power of discernment is necessary as relying on ourselves to determine what comes from God, may be inadequate as God has advised us,
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways "(Isaiah 55 : 8).
These words of God show how man's intellect is not enough in knowing what God wants.
It is also important for us to do the will of God. It is the will of God that all people obey him. Since no one will know the will of God until it is revealed to him by God, discernment is therefore important as it is the way to help us discover what God wills for use. This discovery puts us in a right path towards obeying God's commandments. Generally speaking, discernment can be seen as an inner enlightenment, which comes from the sensitivity of God's Spirit. It is therefore the ability of a believer to evaluate the source of an inspiration, action, event or charism.
The writers of the Old Testament make frantic efforts to have and communicate to the readers a holistic understanding of God. Indeed they believe and write that the God of Israel is the author of the history of creation. In creating the world, he did not just fashion things and create people leaving them to the natural laws of their being; he created man to be free. Man's freedom can make him distort and misinterpret the mind of God in a way that God's aim of creation may not be adequately realized. But the gift of discernment will put him right. Additionally, discernment of the spirit is necessary since there seems to other 'spirits' at work, which seem to compete with God and try to mislead God's people by mimicking his voice. Because of this pluralisation, according to John Paul( 1996:59), men and women have been called to live by faith and not by vision; they have to make
judgments about God's will for them, discriminating between the various inspirations and prophetic voices which all purport to be from God. This is discernment and can only be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, the gift of discernment is an action of the Holy Spirit in a Christian, which is often taken to mean the ability to differentiate an evil spirit from a good one or to evaluate one's actions to see whether they are in line with the teachings of Christ and his Church. In his letter to the Corinthians, Apostle Paul sees discernment as, the
"power to distinguish one spirit from another" (ICor 12:10).
This can be understood to mean, not only discerning the presence of a good or evil spirit, but also discerning the inner workings of a man's heart and mind, and discovering if they are in line with the will of God. In this way, Jesus was able, for instance, to discern not only what Nathaniel was thinking under the fig tree but also what was evident in his spirit. From his discernment, Jesus was able to make a clear remark about Nathaniel:
"This is an Israelite who deserves of the name, incapable of deceit" (John 1:47).
Even when Nathaniel inquired further about how Jesus came to know him, Jesus told him he had seen him before Philip came to call him. Nathaniel, on hearing this from Jesus, proclaimed Jesus' divinity. Here, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit working in him, was able to discern the 'personality' of Nathaniel whom he had not seen: Again, Jesus was also able to discover that Peter's confession came from a spiritual force beyond his psyche. During the dialogue Jesus had with his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, when he inquired from them who people thought he was, different answers emerged from his followers, as some said he was John the Baptist, others, Elijah, Jeremiah et al. However, when Peter spoke up and gave Christ his true identity, Jesus was again, through the action of the Holy Spirit, able to ‘discern’ that it was his Father in heaven that gave peter the right answer.(Cf, Matthew 16:13-19).
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Furthermore, in the Scribes and Pharisees incessant attack on Jesus Christ regarding his words and mission, Jesus was always able to know whether their questions and comments emerged from either right or wrong motives. For instance, when the Pharisees wanted to work out means to entrap him, they sent his disciples to him and after
showering encomiums on Jesus, they asked him if it was permissible to pay tax to Caesar. Aware of their evil thoughts, Jesus asked:
"Why do you set this trap for me?" (Mt 22:19).
Here, Jesus was able to know the evil thoughts of the Pharisees and that their question had not come from a good spirit. Jesus' answer on that occasion, showed his wisdom and power of discernment, thereby making them realize that the question arose not from their personal sincerity but from mere malicious hypocrisy.
On the other hand, when one of the Scribes saw how well Jesus had answered the questions put to him, he asked him, which was the first commandment (Mk 12:28). In the dialogue he had with the Scribe, Jesus saw how wisely he had spoken and retorted:
"You are not far front the Kingdom of God. " (Mk12:34).
Jesus was able 'to see that the question had come from a good motive and not a contrary spirit. In all his life and ministry, Jesus who was full of the Spirit, was able to use the power of discernment in him to know how and when to act so that his actions would be pleasing to his Father. All Christians should pray earnestly for this gift, as it will enable them determine whether their actions are in line with the will of God.
GOD BLESS YOU