vladimirgrebenar 
Discernment of spirits is the charism of the Holy Spirit given to believers so that they can recognize from which source of spirituality a speech, encouragement, or reflection comes. This charism is like a spiritual filter intended to allow God’s incentives for which we should continue to pray to the Lord for enlightenment, and reject the incentives that come from the evil or the people, because: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Ps. 127:1).
The charism of discerning spirits is extremely important for people who have positional authority and manage a social organization and make decisions that have an impact on other people’s lives. Responsible jobs, positions and services such as politics, entrepreneurship and the priesthood carry a greater level of responsibility before God: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).
The charism of discerning spirits should be important to all believers who want to do God’s will, because discerning spirits is a prayer activity that goes hand in hand with listening to God’s word in the heart and precedes making decisions for the Lord. On the one hand, discernment rejects evil inspirations, and on the other hand, discernment accepts God’s incentives so that the Holy Spirit may in time bestow the grace of enlightenment and understanding of what a believer should do. Unfortunately, we often hear people complain about problems related to important areas of their lives such as work, health, family, schooling, finances and the like.
Such problems are burdens that make life difficult, and are often equated with the cross of the Lord. Yet, not all suffering in our lives is God’s cross. Many people suffer some difficult circumstances in their lives due to their own downfalls, and they tend to look for the source of that suffering in the will of God. Such an interpretation creates a completely distorted image of God, because many of the consequences of their own sins are considered by many people to be crosses that came from God. Many believe that it is God’s will that we suffer various injustices, diseases, poverty and other evils for reasons that do not need to be clear to us.
The illusion that God wants meaningless suffering for us comes from an enemy of God who deceitfully wants to portray God as a source of nonsense. Whenever we make a decision that is not God’s will and implement such a decision, the outcome will be a new long-term burden for us. When we make a decision that is God’s will, it usually seems like a difficult path, but over time we realize how important it is to do the Lord’s will. God’s decisions are difficult in the beginning, but they give life full meaning, so every effort for the Lord becomes easier over time and brings life in blessing: “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee” (Ps. 128: 1-2).
There are three sources of spirituality that inspire our decisions: a) God’s incentives, b) man’s incentives, and c) the incentives of God’s enemies. Therefore, there are three types of crosses that people carry: a) Jesus’ cross, b) their own, and c) the cross of the enemy. Distinguishing sources of incentives and choosing crosses is especially important in entrepreneurship. The cross of Jesus gives the entrepreneur full meaning, joy and blessing in all areas of creation and life: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30).
We carry the cross of Jesus when we go the hard way and when we face the challenges that we face in trusting in God, and that is personal and professional growth and creation for the benefit of others. Since Jesus was exalted to heaven on the cross, this means that all who follow the Lord by choosing more difficult decisions will be exalted above the mediocrity of life and blessed from heaven with special graces.
Entrepreneurs who choose easier directions of creation carry their own crosses because they avoid personal and professional growth and do not rely on God, but on one of the employees, perhaps the help of political authorities or individuals with strong influence in politics and economy. Those who carry their own crosses at work are often full of dissatisfaction with employees, the Church, politics and other people, but as a rule they do not consider themselves responsible for the problems that have befallen them. It is an even more difficult situation when one wants to create by cooperating with the enemy of God through occult practices, by reading occult books, and seeking help from such sources.
Entrepreneurs who have agreed to cooperate with the enemy of God should immediately renounce this evil if they want to save their life, family, and business. The consequences of such grave transgressions against God’s law are, as a rule, complete collapse of the company, family shipwrecks and serious illnesses, all at a time when it is best for the enemy to remain unnoticed, since he has complete control over those who handed over their life to him. The evil spirit does not want his influence to be discerned, because if the person he dominates recognizes his influence, he is already on the way to get rid of it.
That is why the enemy does everything so that his influences cannot be recognized by a rational approach so as not to be suspected. An evil spirit is patient while carrying out his infernal plan of destroying man, for he has been on this earth for thousands of years since his fall, and man has lived only a few decades and cannot resist him by his own intelligence, will, or experience without God’s help. The evil spirit removes evidence of presence so that any talk of it as a source of trouble seems meaningless.
On the contrary, anyone who considers himself a Christian if he has not had a conscious experience of directly fighting the temptations of the enemy and the enemy himself in his life is like a sleeping beauty euthanized by a demon: “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14). God gives us spiritual weapons to fight against evil forces, and those are the sacraments and charisms. The infernal and seemingly hidden influence is distinguished by the charism of discernment of spirits which is not acquired by education, but is a grace received after much spiritual experience of discernment and for which one should pray!
Unfortunately, many learned theologians, when talking about discernment of spirits, interpret this charism rationally, and take as the criterion of discernment the exclusive question of whether something is contrary to the Decalogue. The discernment of spirits cannot be interpreted without speaking of the Holy Spirit and relying only on rational reasoning.
Distinguishing spirits is simple when it comes to incentives that directly oppose the Decalogue and lead man into sin, because any such incentive is certainly not the Lord’s. However, the real challenge is to discern a spiritual source of some incentive that at first glance is not against the Decalogue and seems good at first. The evil spirit does not attack those who are strong in faith with incentives that oppose the Decalogue, because it knows that it has lost the battle there. Its attacks are incentives that seem good at first, but their ultimate goal is hellishly destructive.
For example, an entrepreneur considers the possibility of placing a product on a completely new market, which as a positive result could have higher sales, better efficiency, a better working environment, and the potential for employee salary growth. Such a business decision requires time, money and increased work effort in the business. The idea seems good at first and is not against the Decalogue, but the final outcome is unknown. The result can also be a business failure which will result in reduced efficiency, demotivation of employees and laying off of workers, and the owner would experience increased stress which would bring unrest to his family.
To be continued…