some tips on seeking good advice…

three quick tips on seeking good advice.

1.  make sure it’s biblical counsel.  measure all of our decisions against the standards of GOD.

2.  make sure it’s experienced counsel.  get more than one person who has experience in the area of your decision.  you don’t want to ask somebody who doesn’t have a clue about what you’re going through about the issue that you’re facing.  you want somebody who has some experience in that area. 

3. make sure it’s honest counsel.  biblical, experienced and honest counsel.  in other words, don’t talk to people who like you so much that they’ll agree with you every time.

just a thought from the front porch..

run from or run to?…

another wise choice i can make is to decide to get good advice.

there’s a book in the old testament called proverbs.  peppered through that book is a recurring theme: we can be greatly assisted in life if we get good advice. 

proverbs 11.14 (niv), many advisors make victory sure.

           

proverbs 13.20 (niv), walk with the wise and become wise.  but a companion of fools suffers harm.  that’s why it says get good advise.  not just any old advice will do.  you need to get advise from people who have wisdom, who can give wise counsel.

proverbs 19.20 (niv), listen to advise and accept instruction.  in the end you will be wise.  the most successful women and men i have ever seen have surrounded themselves with good advisors and with wise counselors.

alfred p. slone for many years led the powerful general motors corporation.  one time after the board made a very vital strategic decision and the board had voted unanimously on the decision alfred sloan said this, “gentlemen, i take it that we’re all in complete agreement on the decision here.  so i propose that we postpone the decision until our next meeting to give ourselves time to develop some disagreement and maybe get some understanding of what this decision is all about.”  he knew that they had made that decision way too casually.  they had come to a unanimous agreement way too quickly.  he wanted to make sure that they weren’t just keeping silent because he was chairman of the board and they were inferior to him.  he wanted to make sure that they weren’t just people pleasers wanting to go along and not rock the boat.  he was trying to teach them, i want people on this board who will challenge very idea that’s put forward so we’ll make the best possible decisions.  he wanted good counsel.

some people don’t want good counsel.  they know that the good counsel will go against what they inwardly really want to do whether it’s good decision or not. 

let me ask you a personal question.  have you ever been in the midst of making a decision and you intentionally avoided your CHRISTian friends because you knew that they would disagree with the decision you were getting ready to make?  that should be a huge red flag about that decision.  foolish people run from advice.  wise people run to advise.

Just a thought from the front porch...

faith, fact and advice…

so how do you make wise decisions?  pray for guidance and then get the facts.

there is no contradiction between faith and fact, finding out all you can before you make a decision.  proverbs 13.16 (niv), every prudent man acts out of knowledge.  get the facts.  how stupid to decide before knowing the facts!  proverbs 18.13 (tlb). 

ninety percent of all new businesses fail within the first year.  and of those that make it, 90% fail within the next five years.  why?  they’re based on what could be called, uneducated enthusiasm.  they’ve got a great idea but they don’t get the facts.  that’s why a lot of marriages fail – they are based on uneducated enthusiasm – love. 

ask:  what do i need to know before i make this decision? 

also ask for advice.  talk to somebody who’s made a similar decision, talk to friends who know your weaknesses, ask for advice.  proverbs 24.6 (tev), the more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win. 

henry ford, founder of ford motor company, was asked, “what's the secret of success.”  he said experience?  how do you get experience?  he said, “from making stupid decisions.”

it is wise to learn from experience, but it is wiser to learn from the experience of others.  ask for advice.  i don’t have time to learn everything from personal experience.  i don’t have time to make all the mistakes in life and you don’t either.  life is too short to learn everything by trial and error.  i don’t have to look at certain sins and know they’re bad for me, i can see the results in other people’s lives.  you can learn from others’ successes and you can learn from others’ failures.  if you’re wise, you don’t try to learn everything first hand, you learn from the experiences of others.  the bible says that we’re given these stories in the bible that we can learn from and grow.  you learn to ask for advice.

the bible says, get good advice and you will succeed.  proverbs 20.18 (tev). 

now the problem is that we would rather appear wise than be wise.  we think if we ask we’ll look like a dunce.  but it’s more important to be wise than appear wise.  the bible says, wise people ask for advice. 

if you can’t ask for advice you’ve got an ego problem.  the bible says, arrogant people are stupid.  they are stupid because they're unwilling to be teachable.  if you can’t learn you’ll never succeed in life.  all of us are ignorant, just on different subjects.  that’s why we need to ask each other and help each other out.  the bible says, wisdom and humility go together. 

ask:  what kind of advice do i need to make this decision?

just a thought from the front porch…