5:81 – Don’t ask for advice if you want the truth

#faithbites #faithjourney advice

Intro

Have you ever been asked for feedback and when you give it, someone doesn’t want to take it? Maybe it was to give advice on a project at work, but they dismiss your comments. Advice and feedback can be hard to give and hard to receive. If you aren’t ready for it, don’t ask for it. If you don’t want the truth, then don’t ask. True friends will speak truth into you and help you grow. These are the people you want around you always. When you don’t take someone’s feedback, they will be much less likely to give it to you in the future. Be open with the feedback you give and the feedback you take.

Questions

• Have you ever asked for advice but then not wanted to listen to it?:
• Have you regretted not taking the advice of a trusted friend?
• .How can you ask for the feedback that you really need?

Scripture

• Proverbs 19:20 – Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
• Proverbs 11:14 – Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
• Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Reflection

There is a reason why many people quote Proverbs. God has given us great life lessons in that book. Today, for the first time, all of our verses come from one book. God tells us to listen to one another, to take guidance from others, and most importantly not to lean on what we know but to trust in God. He is the one who puts counselors and advisors in our path. Would he do that if he didn’t want us to listen to them?

Yes, it can be hard when someone tells you something you don’t want to hear. Or when someone provides advice on a pet project that goes in a different direction than you wanted it to. As we close, we need to remember, that true friend provide advice and support to help us be better. They want our product, our work, and our lives to be better. They aren’t doing it to tear us down. It’s on us to make sure we select wise counselors, listen to them, and ensure that God is always present in those conversations.

Prayer

Lord, hear our prayers tonight. Help us to be better people. Help us to listen to those you put in our lives. Let us take their advice to grow, multiply, and share your word. Let us be people who give good advice, not out of pride or self-interest, but to help our friends and colleagues grow and multiply. It isn’t easy to do this as we think others have hidden agendas but let the truth shine through. Lord, we pray all of this in your name, Amen.