DISCERNMENT

'We can best know what is wrong by first knowing what is right. Experts on counterfeit currency know this as well. They train others first to know the traits of genuine currency because such knowledge will make apparent what is fraudulent. Christians need to dedicate themselves to learning and knowing truth so that what is evil and abnormal will appear obvious.'

Tim Challies, The Disciple of Spiritual Discernment, p.101.

TRUTH

'Truth is both fixed and constant. It is not changing or something to be created. Good and evil are realities that are both extrinsic to us. The forces of good and evil are not determined by our choices and preferences. In opposition to the dominant mindset of our day, something is not evil simply because it is not in accord with what we feel or desire, and neither is something else good because we like it or enjoy it. Rather things are objectively good or evil regardless of how or what we may feel about them. This is why we must determine whether something is good or evil, right or wrong, based on the objective, unmoving standard of the Bible rather than our subjective, constantly shifting feelings and preferences.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.95.

DISCERNMENT

'Discernment is a skill. It is no an inherent ability like breathing or chewing but a skill like reading or public speaking that must be practiced and must be improved. There is not a person on earth who has been born with a full measure of discernment or who has all of the discernment he will ever need. There is not a person who has attained a level of expertise that allows him to move on and to leave discernment behind. Like the master musician who practices his skills more as his acclaim grows, a discerning person will see with ever-greater clarity his need to increase in discernment. He will want to sharpen and improve this skill throughout his life.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.61.

WISDOM & DISCERNMENT

'Wisdom is a prerequisite to discernment. Discernment is wisdom in action.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.57.

WISDOM

'Wisdom is more than merely attaining or collecting facts. A person may have a great deal of knowledge and may be a master of trivia but still not have wisdom, for there is a moral and ethical dimension to wisdom. Wisdom is not an end in itself, but a means to moudling human behaviour in a way that pleases God...Wisdom allows us to pursue what is good in life, not as judged by our standards but as judged by the Creator. Wisdom allows us to see what is important to God, what values he gives us for our own benefits, and it allows him to teach us how we can pursue them. Wisdom allows us to rightly use knowledge, it allows us to be discerning. Said otherwise, wisdom is knowledge rightly understood.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.56.

DISCERNMENT

'...biblical discernment looks beyond the will of God to the truth of God. We can only know God's will when we first know God's truth, for what God desires and requires of us must always be consistent with his character. Wise decisions are those that are made on the firm basis of what is true about God and, thus, what is true about the world, about life, and about ourselves. Those who make decisions that honour God are those who have invested effort in studying what God says to be true.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p. 54.