3 Ways To Fine-Tune Your Discernment and How Watercolor Scripture Art Can Help
In my recent blog, we talked about why Bible study is so important – especially in developing discernment. Now, it’s more important than ever.
How often do you mindlessly scroll through Instagram, come across a beautifully edited reel of “powerful truth,” and think, “Wow, that is SO good. I needed to hear that!” The person sounds passionate, they’re well-respected, your friend even liked it, and it makes you feel really encouraged. You might even save it for a little spiritual pick-me-up later!
I get it! We live in an age of instant and constant spiritual content – YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, audiobooks, movies – there’s no shortage of voices offering advice or a “word from the Lord.” Some of it is absolutely rooted in truth, but some of it may not be…
Here’s the scary part: If you’re not careful, you’ll be led by what sounds and feels good rather than by the reality of truth.
Check Your Feelings
Our feelings are an unreliable barometer for truth. The Bible even warns us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
Our hearts are good for many things – compassion, loving others, and sharing each other’s victories and burdens. But they are deceptive. Just because something stirs up your emotions or feels encouraging does NOT automatically mean it’s biblically sound.
Remember: someone’s charisma does not guarantee their credibility.
No matter their passion, following, fame, or persuasiveness, only ONE thing stands firm: God’s unchanging Word.
Isaiah 40:6-8 says, “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
If you want to be someone who lives by that enduring truth, you have to be intentional about testing what you hear against what God’s already said.
Why Does Discernment Matter?
Not long ago, I heard a Christian speaker use a particular passage to explain something, and alarm bells went off in my head. I don’t claim to know everything about Scripture (not even close!), but I knew enough to realize that didn’t sound like the biblical intention of that passage.
As I flipped to it in my Bible, I wondered, “Is anyone else noticing this? Is anyone bothering to check if this is actually true?”
That moment strongly reminded me that if we aren’t intentional about testing what we hear against God’s Word, we’ll easily be led astray – even by well-meaning people.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Paul clearly warns his readers, “Prove all things, and hold fast to what is good.” That still applies to us today!
Please hear me: Discernment doesn’t mean you’re skeptical of everyone and assume every Christian speaker is out to twist the truth. Discernment means that you’re SO rooted in truth that when something even seems slightly off, you recognize it and check it against God’s Word.
One of the best ways to grow in discernment is to surround yourself with truth. Keeping Scripture in front of you – whether scribbled on a sticky or displayed through beautiful Bible verse watercolor – helps anchor your heart to God’s truth.
The more you weave His Word into your daily life, the faster you recognize when something isn’t quite right.
How Do I Grow In Discernment?
You might be thinking, “This all sounds great, but how am I supposed to know if something is biblical? I’m not a Bible scholar. I haven’t been to seminary. What if I get it wrong?!”
I know, the thought of understanding all the countless nuances of Scripture feels overwhelming.
But the good news is that you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to have discernment! As a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit in you, who will nudge you when something doesn’t align with the truth. You just have to be willing to listen and dig in!
My goal with this blog is not to make you question everything you’ve ever learned about the Bible or to turn you into a skeptic who mistrusts every Christian speaker. Not at all! My hope is simply to help you be mindful of what you’re allowing to shape your understanding of God and His truth.
You don’t need to automatically discount everything you hear, but you do need to be willing to ask, “Does this actually align with Scripture?” And if you’re not sure, seek help to find the answer.
So how do you do that practically? How do you stay grounded in truth when there are so many voices saying so many different things?
Go Straight to the Source—Your Bible
The BEST, number one way to know if something lines up with truth is to open your Bible. If a speaker, Instagram post, or anything sounds a little off, don’t brush past it. Take a second and check – does this actually match up with Scripture?
God’s Word will never contradict itself. If one verse seems to say something different than what you’re hearing, that’s a clue to dig a little deeper.
This is why I’m SO passionate about Bible study! How can we recognize what Scripture doesn’t say if we don't know what it does? The more you read it, the more you’ll start catching things that don’t line up.
The Bereans in Acts 17:11 did this so well – they didn’t just take Paul’s word for it, no matter how convincing it sounded. Instead, they searched the Scriptures and fact-checked him daily to make sure what they were hearing was actually true.
Keeping God’s Word visible in your daily life makes this so much easier. Have you ever noticed how you can’t stop humming a song just because you heard a tiny part of it? That’s how our brains work! When we see and meditate on Scripture, it sticks with us. That’s why I love filling my home with watercolor Scripture art – it keeps truth in front of me all day, so I can’t get it out of my head.
Seek Wise Counsel
You know that feeling when you’ve got something stuck in your teeth, and no one tells you? Then you get home, look in the mirror, and wonder how many people saw you walking around like that. Yikes.
Spiritually speaking, you need people in your life who don’t let you walk around with stuff in your teeth – like deception stuck in your heart. We all need wise counsel!
Proverbs 27:17 tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” We weren’t meant to figure everything out alone. God designed us for community! One of the biggest blessings of a godly community is finding people who love you enough to keep you accountable to His Word.
If something you hear doesn’t sit right, don’t be afraid to ask a trusted friend, mentor, or pastor about it. Find someone whose walk with God you trust, and ask them, “Hey, I heard this the other day – what do you think? Does this line up with Scripture?”
Trying to grow in discernment without godly people backing you up is like trying to cut your own hair – you might think you’re doing an awesome job – until you step back and realize it’s not exactly even… or it’s a total mess! (may or may not be speaking from experience here…)
Let’s not do this alone, ok? We need each other!
Talk to Your Pastor
Maybe you’re new to the Christian faith, or maybe you just don’t have many close friends who are believers yet. If that’s the case, don’t stress - there’s someone who would love to help you dig into Scripture: your pastor.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am for a pastor who genuinely cares about handling God’s Word rightly. He takes the time to walk me through passages I don’t understand and helps me wrestle with tough questions. He says my questions even hold HIM accountable to preach the Word accurately!
That kind of humility marks a good teacher, one who knows he also falls under the authority of Scripture and is accountable for his flock.
Any pastor, influencer, or teacher worth listening to will encourage you to test what they’re saying against God’s Word. They won’t get defensive when you ask questions or act like they’re the final authority. A wise teacher welcomes that because their goal isn’t to make you depend on them but to help you depend on God’s Word.
So, if you’re feeling stuck, reach out to your pastor. Ask questions. Have conversations. And always, always go back to Scripture to make sure what you’re hearing is true.
Immerse Yourself In Truth With Watercolor Scripture Art
You know those moments when you walk into a room and completely forget why you’re there? Or put your glasses on your head and wander around for 15 minutes looking for them? (I mean IIIII certainly have NO idea what either of those moments feel like, but I figured maybe you did.)
Sadly, we do the same thing with Scripture. We hear the truth, nod along, and highlight it in our Bibles, but when life gets busy, it slips our minds.
If we don’t actively keep God’s Word in front of us, how can we expect to recognize when something is off?
That’s why immersing yourself in Scripture daily is crucial to growing in discernment. If we can’t remember what God’s Word actually says, how will we know when something doesn’t line up?
**If truth isn’t planted firmly in our hearts, we’ll sway in whatever direction feels and sounds good – even if it’s not biblical.**
One of the easiest and best ways to surround yourself with truth is to fill your home with it! That’s why I love watercolor Scripture art!
Think about it: how many times a day do your eyes flick over your walls? Or stare into space at the wall above your desk? What if instead of blank walls (or that old Live, Laugh, Love sign you’ve had forever), you had beautiful Bible verse watercolor paintings displayed right where you could see them?
When truth is in front of you all the time, it sticks. Like that catchy song you can’t get out of your head.
So here’s your practical step for today: find a Scripture watercolor that speaks truth over you and your family, and hang it where you’ll see it often. And as your home fills with God’s Word and your mind strengthens with a steady diet of truth, your discernment will sharpen and recognize anything that doesn’t align with God’s Word.
My Encouragement to You
At the end of the day, my goal isn’t to make you walk around doubting everything you hear or becoming overly skeptical. It’s simply to remind you to be mindful of what’s shaping your understanding of God.
He doesn’t expect you to have a theology degree or know Greek and Hebrew. He just wants you! He wants you to know Him, love Him, and follow Him with your heart, soul, and MIND.
While I don’t think any of us will fully “arrive” at being total Bible experts on this side of heaven, you can be equipped to do your best at discerning the truth. After all, as Evelyn Underhill so eloquently put it, “If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped.”
You don’t have to have all the answers. But you CAN be intentional about filling your mind with truth. Let His Word fill and consume your mind so that anything outside of it feels foreign.
Click below to check out my watercolor Scripture art, designed specifically for busy wives and moms like you and me. Or if you want to get better at digging into the word on your own, go ahead and click add to cart on our Bible Study Journal too! I’m in this with you! Together, let’s anchor our hearts on the Lord!
