I have been thinking lately on what the difference is between discernment and discretion. It seems that in most conversations the two words are interchangeable and even in Proverbial language both have similar meanings, but are they the same? The best place to start is the dictionary.

[discretion] – the trait of judging wisely and objectively [discernment] – the act or process of exhibiting keen insight and good judgment.

Okay, I don’t know about you, but for me, those definitions don’t seem to offer any help. The best way that I can think of it is in these terms:

With in the broad scope of evaluation that we are called to regarding situations and things, we must first decide between what is right over what is wrong. Somethings are good and somethings are evil. We have to decide which side of the line a situation falls and choose the right. This act of deciding between wrong and right seems to be what discernment is all about. Even specifically within the Christian life, we are always discerning if an action is right for us to do as followers of Jesus Christ.

Now that we have evaluated this situation and have narrowed it down into the realm of what is right, we must decide if it is appropriate at that time in that place for those people; and I think that is where discretion comes in.

With all that said, I don’t think that really captures the difference accurately, but that’s what I’ve landed on at the moment. Can any of you shed some light on this?

Be sure to check this new blog maintained by Ian, myself, and our roommate Andrew. The purpose of the blog is to document funny and random quotes that we come across, either in our room, the classroom, or church. Although generally pointless, the blog provides a chuckle every once and a while.

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