Authentically Me highlights my journey to becoming the person God intended for me. In 2019, my goal is to understand, practice, and recognize discernment within my faith, my relationships, and myself.
Choosing Discernment
Throughout 2018, I thought about which aspects of God's teachings to focus on for my next yearly goal. I'm still seeking and welcoming peace, but I thought I needed to study compassion, humility, or wisdom for this new year. However, it hit me in the last days of December, that what I needed to do in order to grow was learn how to discern.
Discernment, like peace, is something I need to practice for both my spiritual life and my worldly life. I need to discern God's Will for my life to ensure I'm living the way He intended and not simply to gain favor with those around me. Likewise, I need to practice discernment within my relationships and myself to ensure I'm not giving in to temptation or being used as a resource by others.
The definition of discernment is the ability to judge well, and in the Christian sense, this also means the ability to perceive the right course of action. Now that I feel more stable in my faith and my emotions after seeking peace in 2018, I want to carry that with me to perceive God's calling in my life.
The definition of discernment is the ability to judge well, and in the Christian sense, this also means the ability to perceive the right course of action. Now that I feel more stable in my faith and my emotions after seeking peace in 2018, I want to carry that with me to perceive God's calling in my life.
Discernment in My Life
For my faith, I want to truly hear God's voice in prayer and in scripture. I want to pray more intentionally to understand what my calling is and whether I'm taking the steps down the path to holiness for God's purpose for me and not simply holiness for the sake of it.
I need to understand what discernment looks and feels like for me, whether it is through prayer and silent listening, music, readings, or through other Christians. Practicing it will take time, but I hope to understand and recognize God's voice when I seek guidance.
Within my relationships and myself, I want to practice discernment to understand who values me as a person and who comes into my life as a test. For me, as I've mentioned in previous posts, men and relationships are my ultimate temptation, and I want to discern future potential partners to understand whether they are seeking a union or a good time.
I also want to integrate discernment into the rest of my relationships. The few friends I have are individuals who have been with me for years, and I don't feel a need to discern their genuineness. However, I do want to practice it for family, acquaintances, and co-workers, among others, to recognize when I'm being taken for granted, either for kindness, resources, or time. Rather than cut people off like I did last year, I want to practice discerning others and remaining around them to improve my ability to perceive character and stop myself from being so open and trusting with each person I interact with.
To begin, I hope to study the idea of discernment more. I'm listening to lectures and sermons from Formed.org and would like to read more scripture to find stories of discernment. I'll also revisit one of my favorite books, The Book of My Life by St. Teresa of Avila, to see if she mentions the practice and how she integrated it into her faith life.
My Lord, I entrust my life to You. Open my eyes, heart, and mind to Your teachings and guide me into a life that I can feel proud to tell others about because it will be all about You. You know my insecurities, and I ask that You help me overcome them and reach ever closer to Your loving embrace for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.
