Approving What is Excellent: The Art of Christian Discernment

“so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,”Philippians 1:10 What is Paul telling us when he says to approve what is excellent? Well, he’s talking about discernment. We need to become better at discerning what is right and what is wrong, or of God, in our daily encounters. I’m mean it’s easy to discern good from evil in a lot of things but what about those things that are inherently evil but masquerade as being good. And more so if it comes from a Christian source that misrepresents God or misinterprets His Word. Not so easy, right?Well, being fully devoted to God and knowing Him through the study of scriptures is the key to discernment. So I just read where a U.S. survey a few years ago on the top writers, journalists and others arts & media personnel suggests that a lot of them think homosexuality, adultery or extramarital affairs are "ok". And these are the writers from whom we get the best-selling novels and the blockbuster movies. May be not all of those are explicitly immoral. But they are slowly dulling the consciences of our young people with new levels of moral degradation while making it 'culturally acceptable'. Just look at what content is in mainstream tv and pop culture...Therein lies the challenge of discerning what we are watching and what we are reading. It also applies to other areas of our life. We can discern that a job offer is not from God if it involves compromising biblical principles or even our Godly family habits. So I’m going to say that now more than ever, we need to be strong in The Word and try to apply it to our daily. That way you may discern right from wrong, sound doctrine from false, good from evil, recognizing unseen spiritual battles and hearing God’s voice more clearly. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t take long when I am in front of the TV, listening to the wrong station or hanging around the wrong people until I feel uncomfortable about the content of what’s going on and I feel compelled to make a change...stay on your toes!Be Nice. Grace Wins.