9.16.2009

Good Advice

Today I was reading in Esther 3 about where Haman sought to destroy the Jews because one man (Mordecai) would not bow down to him as other people would. Haman had just been elevated to a prestigous position in the kingdom of Persia. This one guy, Mordecai, would not bow down to him because he knew the kind of person Haman was. Haman was a chief advisor to King Xerxes. We see in this chapter that Haman "advised" the king to issue a decree that would allow Haman to show Mordecai who was boss.

The truth is that we are surrounded constantly by all kinds of advice. There seems to always be someone there to tell you what you should do or what direction to take. This is not always a bad thing though. God will place certain individuals in our lives to help us see the path He has for us. The question becomes, "who do we need to listen to?"

As I pondered this question, I came up with a few tools to help evaluate the advice that comes our way.

1. Does the advice line up with what Scripture teaches? The word of God has been given to us to show us what is true. Any advice from our heavenly Father will line up with His written word.

2. What is the advisor's relationship to the situation? Sometimes advice can be tainted because the advisor is part of the situation. In some cases the wisest advice will come from someone who doesn't have a dog in the fight.

3. Why does the advisor have to gain from you heeding their advice? As we see in Esther 3, Haman did not care about the well-being of his king. He only wanted to remove a thorn from his own side. When the advisor has nothing to gain or lose, that advice can be more beneficial to you than anything else.

What are some other good evaluation tools of advice that you have used?

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