DISCERNMENT

“All things are lawful, but some are not expedient. All things are lawful, but some do not edify.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)

“Discernment is an unerring conscience and a sure understanding of the will of God in every place and time.” — St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

True discernment cannot exist without humility and a pure heart; it is a gift from God rather than just an intellectual, and analytical ability.

According to the hesychast Fathers, it is the greatest gift and one that will lead us unerringly to our lost likeness to God.

“Man was not created to be and to remain in separation from God and at a distance from Him. If the human soul is a breath from God's mouth, then the closeness between the soul and God must be as the closeness between the breathe and the breather. Man's separation from God is an unnatural state.” — St Phileret of Moscow

In our quest for Discernment and our lost likeness to God, the Jesus Prayer is perhaps the most helpful means of acquiring both the one and the other:

May The Good Lord grant us this great gift!