Discerning the old man (our spiritual body of sinful thoughts – what Eph.4:22 calls “corrupt conversation”) takes time, and is very important. It is difficult to grow a “new man” in our mind when the “old man” continues to interfere with that work. As Jesus says, we can’t put a new patch on an old garment (Mat.9:16). The above illustration shows some possible areas of your life to reflect on. Write down your thoughts – whatever comes to mind could be profitable for discernment. See the basic discernment keys tab for an example of discerning a particular pattern of evil spirits (thoughts).