LET DISCERNMENT SAFEGUARD YOU

JEHOVAH wants you to exercise discernment. Why? Because he knows that it will safeguard you from various dangers. Proverbs 2:10-19 opens by saying: "When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge itself becomes pleasant to your very soul, thinking ability itself will keep guard over you, discernment  itself will safeguard you."  Safeguard you from what?  From such things as  "the bad way," those leaving upright paths , and people devious in their general course. 

Likely you will recall that discernment is the faculty of the mind whereby it distinguishes one thing from another.  A person with discernment perceives differences of ideas or things and has good judgment. As Christian, we especially  desire spiritual discernment based on accurate knowledge of God's Word. When we study the Scriptures, it is as though  we are quarrying the building blocks of spiritual discernment. W hat we learn can help us to make decisions that please Jehovah. 

When God asked Israel's King Solomon what blessing he wanted, the young ruler said: "You must give to your servant an obedient heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad."  Solomon had asked  for discernment, and Jehovah gave it to him to an unusual degree.  (1 Kings 3:9; 4:30)  To acquire discernment, we need to pray, and we have to study God's Word with the help of the enlightening publications provided through "the faithful and discreet slave." (Matthew 24:45-47) This is will help us to develop spiritual discernment to the extent that we become "full grown in powers of understanding," able to "distinguish  [or, discern between] both right and wrong." -1 Corinthians 14:20; Hebrews 5:14.

Next time: Special Need for Discernment

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997