THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT IS INDISPENSABLE FOR OUR LIFE IN CHRIST

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT IS
INDISPENSABLE FOR OUR LIFE
IN CHRIST.

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one
for the profit of all: …to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy, TO ANOTHER DISCERNING THE
SPIRITS…" (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).

There cannot be a spiritual life without the gift of discernment. Orthodox Christian spirituality focuses on inner transformation, union with God (theosis, and vigilant spiritual warfare, heavenly emphasizing DISCERNMENT TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIVINE, DEMONIC, AND PESONA IMPULSES. It, of course, requires humility, prayer, fasting, and spiritual guidance to avoid delusion, ensuring that thoughts (logismoi) and actions align with the Holy Gospel and Faith. We know this to be true because believers are constantly engaged in a daily spiritual warfare such as a vigilant struggle against passions (i.e.,pride, envy, lust) and evil, requiring a "sober" and alert mind. It involves the whole person–body and soul–using prayer, fasting, and liturgical life to tame the passions (πάθη) and purify the heart.

"DISCERNMENT" according to Saint John Climacus "is a solid understanding of the will of God in all times, in all places, in all things; and it is found only among those who are PURE IN HEART, IN BODY AND IN SPEECH…dIscernment IS AN UNCORRUPTED CONSCIENCE." And according to Evagrius (Philokalia p. 38), the three principal evil thoughts are GLUTTONY, VAINGLORY, AND AVARICE; these give rise to the other five: LUST, DESPONDENCY, PRIDE DEJECTION AND ANGER."

Saint John Climacus taught that "amid all our efforts to please God, three pitfalls lie, prepared for us by demons. First is their attempt to impede any sort of worthwhile achievement; and if this fails, they strive secondly to ensure that what we do should not be in accordance with the will of God. And if the scoundrels fail in this too, then they stand quietly before our souls and praise us for the fact that in every respect we are living as God would wish. We should fight these risks, the first by zeal and fear of death, the second by obedience and self-abasement, the third by unceasing self-condemnation. "This work is ahead of us until the fire of God shall enter our sanctuary" (cf. Psalm 72:16-17), and then indeed the power of our predispositions will no longer constrain us. For our God is a fire consuming all lusts, all stirrings of passion, all predispositions, and all hardness of heart, both within and without, both visible and spiritual."

"Demons, on the other hand, bring about the very opposite to all this. Grabbing a soul, they put out the light of the mind until in our wretchedness we find ourselves lacking sobriety or discernment, self-knowledge or shame; and we are burdened instead with indifference, insensitivity, want of discernment, and blindness."

"Those who have been humbled by their passions should take heart. Even if they tumble into every pit, even if they are trapped by every snare, even if they suffer every disease, still after their return to health they become a light to all, they prove to be doctors, beacons, pilots. They teach us the characteristics of every malady and out of their own experience they can rescue those about to lapse." (St. John Climacus)

We understand that true discernment cannot exist without humility and a pure heart; it is A GIFT FROM GOD rather than just intellectual, and analytical ability. One cannot make any practical application without discernment which helps believers navigate daily life, from managing emotions to making ethical decisions, using the Holy Scripture and the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church as our ultimate guide.

To underestimate the power of the demonic forces which attack us daily is extremely dangerous. Constant vigilance is required by everyone who is willing to engage them and to defeat them. We, as Orthodox Christians, need only to read the life of Saint Anthony the Great and what he endured and how he suffered by these demonic vicious forces. Even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ confronted the devil and fought against his temptations and allurements. "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If Thou are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hand they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’" Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."
Then the devil left Him, and behold Angels came ministered to Him" (Matthew 4:1-11).

How can any Christian doubt the existence of the devil and evil and demonic powers after the above account? It is very clear that not only the devil or Satan exists but that he also knows the Holy Scripture and is willing to give his own interpretation of them to tempt our Savior. Evil is real and seeks man’s destruction as he attempts to destroy the Son of God. It is somewhat baffling to me that there is hardly any mention of the devil and demonic forces and spiritual warfare by Christians today. It is as though Christians doubt his existence although we witness all the evil all around us. Today evil reigns unhindered and it seems that Christians have lost the gift of discernment to distinguish between what is of God and what is of the evil one. Do people know what is good and what is evil any longer?

Mankind has given the devil rights and privileges to do as he pleases in the world. The "wilderness" is a battleground, a picture of the world, at once the abode of demons and a source of divine tranquility and contemplation. Saint Paisios the Athonite aimed to portray the devil not as a majestic or terrifying cosmic force equal to God, but as a weak, insignificant, and "annoying" deceiver who has already been defeated by our Lord Christ. The term tagalaki (Greek ταγκαλάκι) is a colloquial, somewhat dismissive or mocking name used for the devil or demons and is used in Orthodox spirituality to remind believers NOT to fear the devil, but to treat him with contempt, as he is merely a tempter who can be overcomed through prayer and spiritual struggle (askesis). The Greek word for devil (diavolos) means the divider and he who distorts the truth or reality.

The evil one can only tempt but does not have power to force or to compel the believer to sin. Jesus fasted and prayed for forty days and nights in the wilderness and defeated the devil. He, therefore, gave us an example of our own power and our limitations. The hunger of His flesh does not control Him; rather, He controls His flesh. Jesus’ fasting "forty days" is the foundation of the Orthodox Church’s forty-dau Lenten observance before Holy Week (and also of the fast before the Holy Nativity and Epiphany holy feasts). It is a spiritual preparation for the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. By rejecting the first temptation, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rejects a kingdom based on materialism, earthly well-being, the "bread which perishes". He teaches us not to love ease and comfort, to willingly accept the struggle necessary of purity from evil. While Adam and Eve disregarded the Divine word given them, subordinating their souls to the passions of the body (Genesis 3), the New Adam, Christ, conquers all temptations, the He might give our nature power to conquer the Adversary.

A symptom of today’s lack of agape for one’s fellow man is uncontained and uncontrollable anger. Anger is a destructive vice which leads to hatred and malice. Jesus Himself said: "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:22-24). Jesus forbids sinful anger (see Psalm 4:4) and Ephesians 4:26 for anger, or righteous indignation, that is not sinful), identifying such anger with "murder." Our Lord taught us always to be peaceful, forgiving, and loving. He says, "do not let the sun go down on your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26). All Christians know that when He was crucified Jesus said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34), a remarkable prayer, showing the boundless mercy of the crucified Jesus.

Every Orthodox Christian and all Christians alike, must always follow the example of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Christians must always be instruments of peace and reconciliation. Our world has suffered for centuries from evil, hatred, anger, wars and death but tragically does not learn from past experiences. If the world would implement the Divine Teachings and perfect example of Christ this world would be paradise indeed.

_____
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George