Testing the Spirits
“Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”1 John 4:1
In his letter, St. John tells the people to not trust every spirit but rather to test them. As Christians we are familiar with the term “spirit.” We speak of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. We also read in Genesis that God breathed into man the very breath or spirit of life — His own Spirit. But we also need to know that there are spirits that are not from God; there are evil and bad spirits. So, how do we test the spirits?
St. John tells us that if the spirit acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh then it belongs to God, but if it does not, then it does not belong to God. In other words what do these spirits do within our hearts? Do they lead us towards faith or do they lead us towards distrust in God? Do they lead us towards hope or do they lead us towards despair and shame? Do they lead us towards love or do they lead us towards selfishness and hate? If the spirit leads us to God and moves us to do what the Lord has commanded of us then it is from God. And if we come to discern that there are spirits that do not lead us towards God then we must reject them, literally. If there is a spirit within you that makes you feel, “I am not worthy of love,” it is not from God, and so you must say out loud, “I reject the lie and spirit that tells me I am unworthy of love!” We must test the spirits and reject and denounce them if necessary.
Over time we will know if those spirits were truly from God by the fruits that will have been produced. In the meantime we must continue to pray for the grace of a discerning heart so that we might come to embrace the Spirit of God and denounce the spirit of the Enemy.
