Discernment is a difficult quality to teach. Some people
have a great deal more of it than others. It’s a quality that seems to me increasingly
and depressingly rare.
It’s not hard to think of Christians who have known the Lord
for years, yet remain more than a little gullible and sometimes require the protection
of family and friends. You probably know some too. They like people. They think
the best of everyone. They have a tendency to be so gentle and trusting that
they fall for almost every new thing that comes along, provided it is presented
with a smile. They mistake niceness for goodness and pleasant talk for the
gospel truth.