Wise Advice — A LifeWords Devotion

Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
    many advisers bring success. (NLT)

Getting the right advice isn’t always easy. We can be so indecisive that we go on continually seeking advice as a means of postponing making a decision. Or we can seek advice only from those who will agree with our preferred course of action. Or if we consult more widely, we may disregard advice with which we disagree.

The point of getting advice from others is to test our own desires and thoughts and intentions. We may have overlooked some things in our desire to further our own plans. We may be moving in totally the wrong direction.

So seeking advice from others is an admission of our fallibility, our limitations. But we must ensure we are not playing games, just getting nods of approval from those who don’t want to upset us or are too timid to offer an alternative view. The best advisers are those who are prepared to disagree with us or challenge us.

So many leaders have gone astray by surrounding themselves with those who will flatter them or reinforce their prejudices and passions, thus revealing their insecurity. Or have gone astray by insisting on doing their own thing and ignoring others, thus revealing their pride.

The wisest advisers are those who, at least occasionally, make us uncomfortable.

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Blessings

David