For as long as you can remember, you have given advice to others, and you have received advice. You want to help other people when they are in distress. It just follows, that you tell them what you think they need to do. Also, when you are down and out, you seek the advice of others to help you remedy your situation.
Arnold Lobel gives some sound teaching when he says: “Advice from friends is like the weather: some of it is good, and some of it is bad.” Ha! You chuckle, because you can relate so very much with those words. Definitely, you have received words of counsel that were exactly what you needed to hear. Then, again, there have been times you acted on counsel that did not help at all; sometimes it even made the matter worse.
The problem with most of the advice that you receive, is that the person giving the advice is not giving words based on Scripture. When you seek a solution to your problem, the best place to start is with the Word of God. In the longest psalm in the Bible, God tells you exactly why His counsel is the best counsel you can possibly get: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The words “a lamp to my feet” mean that the Scriptures are written for you to apply to daily living, that will keep you from stumbling in your daily activities. As your daily activities are smooth, the words “light to my path” means your life will be on the road God wants you to be on.
In the giving and taking of advice, just know that when you base your daily activities and end goals according to Scripture, everything will be smooth sailing. This is the best advice that I can give you!
