In Christian spheres, people paint curiosity a few different ways. In some circles, it’s praised almost as a spiritual discipline that we should partake in if we wish to know God and grow in holiness. In other circles it’s a dangerous practice. But what if the faithful Christian can be both curious and discerning?

Each of us is faced with decisions in life, and the hardest ones often involve people we love and know to be faithful. But have you ever felt this tension between Bible teachers you know and love? How do we discern what’s true even among the best of Bible teachers?

I often bristle at corrections from fellow believers who point out point out my faults, failures, or sins. My natural tendency (and probably yours too) is to be defensive. However, this doesn’t need to be our only reaction. God’s Word shows us another way.

False teachers are everywhere. How do we grow in discernment to know truth from error? First we must lay a foundation. Here’s how.

In the same way that you shouldn’t diagnose yourself with Google, I don’t want you to learn your theology from me. I don’t mind being your starting point or launching pad, but don’t make me your final authority. There are better sources out there than me.

Discernment is like examining a well-done counterfeit painting—we need an expert, well-trained eye to see the tiny detail differences between the genuine and the fake. But how is this eye for detail trained? How do we strengthen our discernment muscles?

God commands us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger—we are to study God’s Word with eagerness, patience, and diligence before teaching it to others, and accept what it teaches us rather than rebel in anger. Unsure how to do that? Here are a few steps you can take each time you prepare to teach on a passage of Scripture.

In my striving to be godly woman and wife (and future mother) I become discouraged with this woman. How does she do all that she does? In such a pursuit, I forget that the foundations for such a woman is not works, but theology. A woman who is a theologian first can in turn do the good works, teach with wisdom, discern truth, smile at the future, and fear God.

Discernment is known as the ministry is which a person warns others of false teachers and their teachings. This has the possibility is being a gracious gift to the church. However it can, by means of sinful man, become something monstrous when it is based on conscience issues, facts are founded on lies, rudeness is prominent, and God’s glory is not the goal.