There is a need today for discernment regarding the source of guidance that comes to the embodied self, for energies that can represent themselves as emanating from the light are not always coming from that source, and the effort to lead astray those who are devotedly and with great sincerity trying to follow a true path of service to God, remains strong.

Often, guidance that seems to come from the light but does not will create a feeling of apprehension or confusion.  It will arouse anxiety rather than calmness and peace. Yet even when anxiety is not present, one can tell the difference between what is false and what is true by the presence or absence of love.

Love does not declare, it invites and encourages.

Love does not intimidate, threaten, or judge.  It supports and nurtures.

Love does not suspend the rights of others to hold different points of view or to disagree with the guidance altogether.

Love does not appropriate to itself the rights of others, even when guidance seems most compelling.

Love is gentle, it emanates from the heart with gentleness and remains humble and respectful, observing the right of others to pursue a different path.

Love does not force anything upon others without their permission.  In its humility it requests an audience but does not demand it.  It respects the Divine and human right of each one to govern their own existence.  It does not trespass where it is not wanted.

There have been many, both past and present, who have, while in positions of spiritual leadership, pursued paths of service believing them to be authorized by the true light of God when in fact they were partly so authorized, and partly altered by mistaken judgments made on the basis of false guidance.

One must be very humble to recognize the path of truth.

One must be very respectful of the rights of others to recognize the path of truth.

One must hold love as an essential on all levels of being, the human as well as the Divine, in order to not justify trespassing on the rights of others because one believes oneself to be 'right' or 'righteous'.

These are the measures that call out to be recognized by those who seek to lead humanity in the direction of the one true God.  They call out to be recognized in loving humility toward all, recognizing that all are one, and that all are pursuing their own path to God to the best of their ability.  Therefore, overriding their freedom to do so, or forcing some edict, prescription, or advice upon others because it seems correct, can leave one vulnerable to false guidance, and remove one from the true path of light.  In this way both arrogance and self-righteousness can be recognized as temptations that lead one astray through the very belief that one is right.

Light always serves all.

It remains wedded to love.

It is gentle and in service to the One.

Related Writings:

How Do You Know You Are Safely Being Led?

Foundational Truths

Anchoring in Love

Article Section -  Purification

"Maintaining Alignment With Light"