Author: Tim Challies

I believe that discernment matters. I believe that spiritual discernment is a necessary mark of spiritual maturity while a lack of spiritual discernment is a concerning mark of spiritual immaturity. As the book of Hebrews tells us, “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14). There it is, the connection between maturity and discernment. There are many reasons I find myself at home among those who hold to Reformed theology, but one key reason is that the tradition places high value on discernment. Many of those who come to appreciate Reformed doctrine do so after finding a critical lack of judgment in their previous traditions. Disturbed by a blend of good teaching and bad, sound doctrine and unsound, they look for churches that care about diligently separating truth from error and right from wrong. They soon find themselves in a Reformed church. Yet as I have reflected on discernment over the past 20 years, I continue to find myself perplexed by a strange conundrum: Sometimes the people who most value discernment in doctrine are the people most prone to neglect discernment in character. They can display a kind of credulity that makes them especially susceptible to listening to and believing untrustworthy sources. Ironically, their emphasis on discernment leaves them vulnerable to lies. We all need to understand a hard truth: there are people out there who make stuff up. It may seem hard to believe, but it’s reality.…See AlsoA Call To Discernment (Part 3)A Call To Discernment (Part 2)

I have often heard it said that Romans 8:28 is the wrong verse to bring to the attention of those who are grieving, that while it is true in our especially difficult moments, it does not necessarily become helpful until some time has passed. And while I can only speak for myself, it has been my experience that in my lowest moments I have feasted on Romans 8:28, I have run to it like a starving man runs to a meal and I have drunk from it like a parched man drinks from an oasis. I have needed Romans 8:28 and it has both comforted my soul and directed my grief. The verse says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” It is for good reason that this is one of the most familiar verses in the entire Bible and for good reason that so many have memorized it. And I wonder if you have ever paused to consider a world without Romans 8:28? Without Romans 8:28 we would not have confidence that our experiences in this world “work … for good.” We might believe that some of what we experience works for harm, that Satan and God are cosmically slugging it out with first one and then the other gaining the upper hand. We might be tempted to believe that some of what we experience works for nothing, that there is an arbitrary element to life in…See AlsoA Concise Guide to the Greatest Letter Ever WrittenA Prayer for Our Lack of LoveFor The Good