I realize I’m breaking with convention a bit here, as we usually discuss Segullah articles on Mondays. Today, though, I find myself haunted by another article.
Elder Bednar has quickly become a beloved speaker to me. Straight-shooting and to the point, he just “hits it on the head” for me often. He wrote an article in the December Ensign that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. (Sadly for me, I can’t figure out how to link to it, as the Church’s search engine just finds it without it’s own distinct tag). Edited to add: thanks Michelle for the link.
Be Quick to Observe. Seek for the gift of discernment. “Now, the gift of discerning of spirits not only gives men and women who have it the power to discern the spirit with which others may be possessed or influenced, but it gives them the power to discern the spirit which influences themselves,” he spoke.
There have been a few times in my life where I have happened upon a person in which the Spirit practically yelled at me in warning. I don’t think, though, on the whole, I have been able to discern those spirits and intentions of others around me with succinct-ness or accuracy.
Talk to me about this. I want to have this gift in my life, and have begun to talk to the Lord more about it. How do you react to the people around you? Do you find yourself trusting those small, sweet promptings of the Spirit we receive when we meet others? Or do you, like myself, more often push aside that Spirit of Warning for the sake of politeness and socially correct behavior?
I haven’t read the article yet, but I will now. It’s difficult, because discernment can easily turn into judgment. I know, I know, the JST changes Matt. 7:1 to “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.” But how can you tell if you are judging righteously? I guess that’s where the Spirit comes in. I know I have gotten a “weird vibe” from people at times. When that happens, it seems to work best if I heed the warning but not try to figure out the reason for it. It could be becuase of a weakness in myself more than one in the other person.
What do you do if the person you feel warned about is in your family?
I enjoyed that article too, Justine.
Discernment has always been one of my spiritual gifts, but lately even more has been given. Sometimes it is uncomfortable. I can often feel the spirit of a person and sometimes know of their struggles (read trials in life) without any verbal communication. I know it is the spirit because I feel such love and understanding for these people, no judgement at all. I just don’t know what, if anything, I am supposed to do with this knowledge.
Sometimes there is an obvious purpose, like I know I should not leave my children alone with certain people. But other times, like happened on Sunday, there is no reason (that I see). I was talking with a (very good, talented, spiritual, kind) man in my ward. He mentioned that after his mission he had gone through a rough period and left the church for a while. I KNEW what had caused him to leave the church (a trial he still endures) and felt his commitment to the Savior and his temple covenants. Like I said, I feel only love (and often awe at their spiritual strenth) for these people, no judgement.
On my mission an elder saw auras. He could tell the thoughts of a person by the color of the light around them. At the time he said, though it was a gift it also brought much heartache because he could see people’s struggles, pain and even evil. I didn’t understand then. I am coming to understand, now.
It makes me think of this quote by Elder Eyring
quote:
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Time has taught me. As the forces around us increase in intensity, whatever spiritual strength was once sufficient will not be enough. And whatever growth in spiritual strength we once thought was possible, greater growth will be made available to us. Both the need for spiritual strength and the opportunity to acquire it will increase at rates which we underestimate at our peril.
Henry B. Eyring, “Always,†Ensign, Oct. 1999, 7
I, too, have been praying for an increase in the gift of discernment or whatever spiritual gift/ growth I need.
The question of whether we act on these thoughts or put them aside to be PC is a hard one. So far, I haven’t run up against that, but I live a somewhat sheltered life. Nor have I had any family members (that I see with any regularity) bring on the bad feelings. Very interesting to contemplate.
Great topic, Justine.
BTW, is it bad blogging form to leave a response longer than the initial post??? Oopps.
To answer Melissa–how do we judge righteously? My favorite talk on this is in Moroni 7, from Mormon. The first half of the talk is about how to judge righteously–he starts by saying to his audience that he knows they are good people. In other words, he has judged them. He has judged them to be good “because of [their] peaceable walk with the children of men.” He goes on to explain that we can judge good from evil 1-by its fruits (verses 5-12), and 2-by the way in which the issue in question leads us to the Savior (verses 16-17). Then he kind of shifts tone, and talks about “how to lay hold on every good thing” (verse 25) through faith, hope, and charity. It comes across as a bit abrupt at first, but I really think it’s a further development of the initial idea, that is, how to discern what’s good in the first place.
To me it is very telling that he ends the talk with an exhortation to have charity. It’s like Felicia says: when we have a true, divine spirit of discernment, it is accompanied by a true, divine spirit of charity.
Mormon says “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he has bestowed upon all who are trued followers of his Son, Jesus Christ, that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…”
“We shall see him as he is” is an important phrase. When we are filled with His love, we will be able to discern the Savior as He is. I think the corollary to that is that we will be able to discern others as they are, to stop “seeing through a glass darkly” (as Paul says, 1 Corinthians 13) and begin “seeing face to face.” Charity, then, is an essential ingredient to true discernment and righteous judgment. As Elder Bednar says, we obtain the gift of discernment by being quick to observe; as Mormon (who was himself quick to observe) says, we exercise that gift through the clarifying lens of charity.
Ooh, great topic. You have inspired a new direction my scripture study.
There can be such negative connotations associated with the word “judgement.” Substituting “righteous judgement” helps. I think “discernment is even clearer for me. I want to be able to discern as much and as clearly as possible, not so that I can condemn anyone else, but because I want access to every tool available for recognizing truth, and because I want perspective and guidance about how to best love other people.
Felicia, I am now totally intimidated by you. I have a vision of the Spirit world that is sort of like you describe your experience–all of us being much more transparent. I like that ideal, so I try to be as open as I can about both my challenges and my triumphs. But I don’t know if I’m ready to hang out with you anymore. What color is the aura of someone who is not “there” yet, but sincerely trying?
There are so many intruiging directions this discussion could take, and I have gotten tons more to think about with this one!
Felicia, what about those few strong warning feelings I’ve had in my life, when I have met a person, and without knowing anything else, knowing I need to stay away. I have not really felt charity toward that person, but rather felt I knew their intentions toward me to be evil and malicious. I have always interpreted those feelings to have come from the Lord, but as you wrote, I began to wonder. I never felt that loving reaction you speak of, only a VERY strong precautionary warning.
This topic is so intersting, and I want to understand and know more. Good phrasing, Angie, when you discuss having more tools. That’s how I see it, too.
Justine,
Don’t get me wrong.
There are some very evil people out there and when I feel them I do not get warm fuzzies. I stay away. So far, this has not been difficult.
The people I feel love for are those who have challenges but are trying to follow God’s plan. A person may be challenged by a trial (for example pornography or same gender attraction) that might require some effort on my part to protect my family, but I don’t feel horror or disgust. I love them for their efforts to stay true to covenants and I help in whatever way I can. I have never told anyone what I felt (through the Spirit) about them. I would only do so if the Spirit really pushed me.
Ang - Your aura is beautiful!!!!
I’m sure it is, but I don’t see auras. 
And I don’t “feel” things about everyone. It’s just random. I just meant that sometimes I’d rather not know certain things. I won’t try to read your mind. 
I can’t, anyway.
Lately, I’ve been coming to understand that Heavenly Father is helping me to “practice” using this gift. Right now I am not supposed to do anything with the knowledge I recieve other than to show that I can keep a confidence and that I will listen. Some day, though, I will need it.
I love the definition about prayer in the Bible Dictionary. It says that “the object of prayer . . . is to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them.”
Asking for these spiritual gifts (charity, testimony, discernment, ect) for me and my family is a high priority.
Thanks for the great topic, Justine.
OK, note to self, smileys don’t work right here.
I do know things sometimes. I usually know in advance before major life events. That feels like a spiritual gift, because I can’t control it at all. I also know things about people. “That child has been sexually abused.” Or “This issue is happening in that marriage.” But it isn’t technicolor. For me those kinds of knowings aren’t as sudden and complete as looking at a stranger across the room and thinking, “Oh, orange. I know what that means.” I had a field instructor in grad school who could do that. It was interesting to try to learn therapy from someone who saw things I didn’t.
For anyone who wants it, here is a link to the article.
And here is a link to a fantastic article by Elder Oaks on not judging and righteous judgment.
I, too, love Elder Bednar.
Angie,
You’re right, most of us have this gift from time to time. My problem was that I thought it was all me. Because I was so wonderful, I had great insight, I really understood people. Then one day my faith in my arm of flesh smacked me. It dawned on me that this was a manifestation of a spiritual gift from God and that I was ungrateful and prideful. I really should have been thanking him for it instead of taking all the credit myself. Since I’ve been doing that, its like the floodgates have opened. Once it was an interesting semi-frequent occurence. Now I notice it many times a day. In addition, it is getting stronger and deeper.
Heavenly Father amazes me. His plan is so simple, yet so incredibly multi-faceted and complex.
The cool thing about discernment as a gift is that it comes in so many varieties.
-the ability to recognize other people’s gifts
-the ability to know what another person needs to hear at a certain time
-the ability to recognize a “yes” or “no” from the Spirit
-the ability to find truth in something you’re reading
-the ability to find a friend, and know how to make and keep the friendship
etc. etc.
I think everyone probably has at least one variety of this gift, and maybe we all have different kinds at different times.
After getting my December Ensign back out, I have to agrre with you that that was a power packed article. I’m still absorbing it all. Two things struck me the most strongly. The first was his emphasis on the dual nature of observing: it entails both noticing and acting. I am better at the noticing, and I would like to follow up more quickly on the promptings I discern. I’m discovering that a great deal of spiritual power is opened up by simple responsiveness. The other was his emphasis on how much good we can do when we discern the divine natures in those around us and help them to do the same. If I could have one spiritual gift, that would be it: to see others and to help them see themselves as God sees them.