God Will Give Advice Through Others

In review of Proverbs 12:26 it says, “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.”

Bottom Line:

A righteous and godly friend will give good advice and guidance to a friend. The path of the wicked will lead them astray.

What this means to me:

I can count on good advice and guidance from a righteous and godly friend. Someone with the wrong intent will lead me astray.

God will speak to me through friends and family, particularly if they are believers. Proverbs 12:26 reminds me, “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray” (NLT).

Everyone has blind spots. There are things in life that I’m never going to see that need to be corrected, so God puts people around me to tell me the truth. Everybody needs somebody in their life who loves them enough to tell them the truth.

It’s important for me to have someone like this in my life, a godly friend or friends who don’t just tell me what I want to hear but love me enough to level with me and say, “You know what? You’re blowing it right now. You’re making a big mistake. You’re full of pride. You’re going the wrong direction”?

I can not always see clearly. I need to give trusted people permission to get in my face and say, “you’re blowing this. You’re wrong. Have you ever thought about ‘this’?” I can see where this will be really important after my wife and I move away from our current community and settle into a new one. We will need to re-establish a group that we can connect with.

While I need this type of person in my life, I also need to be that kind of person for someone else. I shouldn’t just let people get away with it when I see them going in the wrong direction and not say, “What are you doing? Don’t you see what’s wrong with this?”

One of the primary benefits of a small group is feedback and counsel. These should be people who I get to know so well that I can trust them and give them permission to speak into my life and I have permission to speak into theirs.

God wants to speak through me and use me to help others grow, but it takes courage. And God wants to speak through other people to me, but it takes humility. “Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6).

In my own life, I think it’s easier to not share what’s going on in my life, as someone might point out that I’m wrong or my thinking needs correction. I rarely like being corrected. I need to be open and humble, ready to accept criticisms, and suggestions for improvement.  Given this verse today, I should expect a situation soon in which God will use someone to speak into my life.  I should be prepared for this, be humble and listen intently.