Thrive With Discernment

It’s officially Fantasy Football draft season as leagues will gather together over the next month to select NFL players to be on their teams this season.

As a result, we as Fantasy Managers are currently evaluating, researching, scouting, and considering which players are most likely to have a strong season. We are reflecting on past performances, reading analysis from Fantasy experts, reviewing stats, and monitoring rankings.

During the buildup to our Fantasy draft, we’ll listen to players be interviewed and talk at press conferences during training camp and preseason games. Oftentimes, the responses they give to the media reveal their personalities and the type of people they are.

This entire process for Fantasy Managers leads us to make judgments about each player and how we think they will perform on the field in 2025, factoring in as much information as possible.

Every year, Fantasy Managers decide what players to draft and when to draft them, based on how they judge each guy.

What separates the consistently elite Fantasy Managers from the ones who make costly mistakes is the fact that they most often make the right judgments about the players they choose to draft.

They also make the right call regarding roster construction and the direction to take with their draft plan, as well as which positions to emphasize in each round.

No Fantasy Manager is perfect, but some have developed the ability to discern and judge rightly who the best players are and what the right decision is when they are on the clock. They have a strong sense of sleepers, breakout stars, and which players or NFL team situations to avoid.

The definition of discernment is “the ability to judge well,” “make a smart judgment about something,” or “a wise way of judging between things, or a particularly perceptive way of seeing things.”

As important as it is for Fantasy Managers to have discernment if they want to thrive in selecting the right players when it comes to our own lives as followers of Jesus, we need discernment to know the best things to do and not do, what direction is God’s best, and to make the right decisions about people.

We often choose to be judgmental about people, but this can be self-righteous, critical, and mean, ultimately leading to misjudgment.

That’s why we need to ask God to give us discernment instead. He can help us understand others so we can know how to love them well, figure out what’s going on with them, who they truly are as people, and sense when it may be necessary to avoid them or particular situations.

We need the ability to discern and humbly judge rightly, which is a gift from God.

Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson writes, “For the only worthwhile discernment we possess is that which we receive in union with Christ, by the Spirit, through God‘s Word.”

To thrive with discernment in all areas of our lives, we must be in sync with the Holy Spirit, walk in obedience, pray, study God’s Word, and abide in Christ.

As we discern God’s will, we will know and follow His commands, allowing Him to guide us in making the right decisions and wise judgments.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

God is the One who knows all, and His way is perfect. Therefore, let us continue to seek Him and listen to Him as we develop more effective discernment in our decision-making and relationships.

Today, let’s pray these two important prayers: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…” (Philippians 1:9-10; ESV).

“I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes” (Psalm 119:125; NIV).

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray You give me discernment so that I can make the right decisions and judge rightly. Help me love people well and know how best to serve and encourage them. Help me to see things through a spiritual and biblical lens, with Your perspective, as I trust in Your guidance. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.