Be Discerning ~ Sunday Devotional
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. John 7:24 (NIV)
God wants us to be discerning. While we read in Matthew 7 not to judge others, this verse warns us to judge correctly, meaning to be discerning. In some cases that might be people, but other cases it’s situations, intentions, motivations, etc.
Look deeper. There’s more than what is on the surface. That can be for good or not-so-good. Some situations require us to set boundaries because something or someone is not beneficial for us. Other times, we must check ourselves when we jump to conclusions and make a judgment too quickly based on appearances or preconceived notions.
One area that we need to be discerning is diet culture. Too many diets disguise themselves as a lifestyle yet they still focus on weight or what you eat and when, etc. One of my biggest frustrations is seeing well-meaning fitness instructors create a program, add in a devotional or Bible verse on the backend, and call it faith and fitness. That’s not an integrated approach to health and wellness, and it doesn’t create lasting results. If it’s not something you can see yourself doing when you’re 80, it’s a diet. (And if you’re 80 and still restricting food, counting calories, and worrying about your weight, please stop. You are lovely just as you are, and it’s time for you to receive that love and find freedom!)
God wants you to be discerning about what/who you allow into your life and to occupy your focus. Click To Tweet
Be discerning. What are the motivations of these diets? To get your money. To give you just enough success then leave you hanging so you’ll have to return to them. If you find yourself saying, “I’m going to go back to x plan because that worked,” please recognize that it didn’t work. It wasn’t your fault. You’re not a failure. It worked for the person who is taking your money. That was the plan. Their motivation isn’t to help you but to keep you coming back.
Be discerning by asking yourself:
- Do I have peace about this situation, relationship?
- Am I free to be me and to show up as 100% myself?
- Does this person, situation, etc. bring me closer to the Lord?
Action Step: Take a moment to be discerning about what you’re allowing into your life right now and commit to looking deeper before allowing someone or something to occupy your time, your focus, your thoughts.
Happy Sunday!
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