Taking Advice

Learn to listen to people who are smarter than you are, that will make you smarter than you are.

Many of us find it difficult to look for or to listen to people who are smarter than we are. That is because we do not like taking advice from others and we fail to realize the value of the wisdom found in others.  We don’t appreciate learning from others about the things we don’t know yet.

It is our pride and our foolishness that keep us from learning from others.  And it is our lack of humility that keeps us from knowing that we may not know all that is best for our lives. Do you know how fast an eagle can fly or how fast a deer can run?  Probably not.  Those are not things we just typically know.

It is our pride and our foolishness that would tell us we do not need to know that.  And our lack of humility would keep us from learning those things from others. Since the beginning of time, man has had problems listening to others who are smarter. But God wants us to be different.

Proverbs 23:12 tells us to “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.” This is saying for us to be intentional in looking for the ways you should live and to always listen for the knowledge of things you do not know. Many of us will not do this because our foolishness and our pride will keep us from hearing the wisdom of this proverb.

Proverbs 23:22 says “listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”  Be intentional in seeking to hear what your parents have to say and make it a point to desire their advice. But we do not like taking the advice of others, even our parents, as much as we want to give advice to others.

There is always someone stronger than you. There will always be someone better at this thing than you are.  There will always be someone who can run faster than you can. And there will always be someone smarter at life than you are. The wise and the prudent person in you would seek to find those people and to learn from them.

Do not allow your pride to keep you from learning the difference and importance between advice and wisdom. In Exodus 18:19, Moses’ father-in-law gave him some advice when he said, “Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you.”  Moses was humble enough to take that advice.  He listened.

In Exodus 18:17, Moses father-in-law shared some wisdom with Moses when he said, “The thing you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you and you are not able to perform it by yourself.”

Moses was not offended by this wisdom as he listened to his father-in-law who could see where his actions would be harmful to the people and to Moses. Understanding comes more easily to us when we learn to listen to and to take the advice of others.

Realize that listening to others does not mean you are allowing others to run your life.  It simply means you are smart enough to allow others to help you see more about your life and others.

Not listening to others smarter than you will leave you to only listen to yourself. When you only listen to yourself or to those you believe are not as smart as you, there will be no way for you to correct yourself when you give yourself bad advice.

If you are not willing to listen to what others have to say about you, perhaps you should wonder if others should listen to what you have to say about them.

Learn to first listen to the Lord. Then learn to listen to those who are smarter than you are. This will make you smarter than you are.

Live a Delivered Life. Love you.