{"id":1613,"date":"2026-05-14T12:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/?page_id=1613"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:51:17","slug":"lesson-47-discernment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/lesson-47-discernment\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 47: Discernment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lesson 47: Discernment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Scriptures:<\/strong> 1 John 4:1, Hebrews 5:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Teaching Points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Basic Devotion: Testing What We Hear and Believe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Idea:<\/strong> Spiritual maturity includes learning that not everything spoken in spiritual terms is actually true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Not everything is spiritually true<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Just because something is said with spiritual language, confidence, or even emotion does not make it true. The Bible warns that deception can be persuasive and even \u201creligious\u201d in tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits\u2026\u201d (1 John 4:1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not all insight is from God. Some ideas sound wise but lead away from truth. Spiritual maturity begins with a healthy awareness that error often comes dressed as truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Discernment grows through maturity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Discernment is not automatic\u2014it develops over time. Just as children learn to distinguish voices, tones, and intentions, believers grow in the ability to recognize what is right and what is misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice\u2026\u201d (Hebrews 5:14)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maturity in faith is not just knowledge, but practiced sensitivity to truth. The more we walk with God, the more clearly we recognize His voice from everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Truth must be tested by Scripture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The final authority is not experience, intuition, or spiritual impressions\u2014but God\u2019s Word. Everything must be measured against Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow these Jews were more noble\u2026 they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.\u201d (Acts 17:11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even good-sounding teachings must be checked. The Bible is the standard that exposes error and confirms truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Closing Thought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Spiritual growth is not just about believing more things\u2014it is about learning to test what we believe. As we grow in maturity, we become less easily swayed and more anchored in Scripture, able to recognize truth in a world full of spiritual noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How do you evaluate what is true?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What influences your beliefs?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How can you grow in discernment?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Practical Application:<\/strong><br>Examine one belief or influence this week and compare it to Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Testing truth<br>Spiritual maturity<br>Biblical foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1rwlhjpUEOI\">How To Differentiate Your VOICE and God&#8217;s VOICE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lesson 47: Discernment Key Scriptures: 1 John 4:1, Hebrews 5:14 Teaching Points: Basic Devotion: Testing What We Hear and Believe Key Idea: Spiritual maturity includes learning that not everything spoken [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1613","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615,"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1613\/revisions\/1615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnameselivingfaith.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}