The Gift of "Discerning of Spirits"
"Discerning"- 1. "the ability to distinguish and evaluate,"
2. "engagement in verbal conflict because of differing viewpoints."
"[T]he ability to evaluate and judge—‘to be able to judge, ability to make judgments, ability to decide.’"
- Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 363.
"This is the spiritual capacity to determine whether a teacher, prophet, or preacher is speaking under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, his own human spirit, or the evil spirits." -William McRae
The Gift of Discerning of Spirits-
The God-given judicial ability to stand over people in order to detect genuine or non-genuine motives by distinguishing the spirit-source behind any person’s speech or act. (1 Cor 12:10)
Evaluate situations quickly and accurately
Good intuitive sense
Quickly spot weak points in a presentation
Willing and able to speak out
See hidden motives or agendas
Keen insight in seeing Biblical principles and in bringing them into practical situations
Pinpoint difficulties in a situation when things aren’t going well
Can apply principles to the decision-making process