Good morning,
People who are leaders are
famous for being willing to direct, correct, influence and share what
they know and what they think with the people around them. Since life
always includes complicated issues and new challenges, there has always
been a real need for someone to help others sort things out by giving
them guidelines that make life more livable. Good counselors are always
in high demand. It’s also true that it’s not just good people who want
good counsel. Thieves, rebels, politicians, religious people and
ordinary folks are all looking for people who will help them solve the
complications of life without changing their self centered way of
living. To them, good counsel is what makes them feel good. Those of
us who build our lives around the Bible are faced with the challenge of
giving good counsel that is based on what God says and not on what
people want to hear. God’s idea of goodness is not what works for them,
but what will work according to the rules that our Creator God had
built into his creation.
King David was a man after
God’s heart and he knew what was involved in the character and
development of a godly counselor. A godly counselor teaches right from
wrong. God has given us a trustworthy Book of guidelines that are based
on the holy character of our loving God. Godly counselors base their
counsel on the truths that are written into the stories and instructions
that God has laid out in his love letter to us. Although life is very
complex, God’s principles are given in such a way that we can, with the
Holy Spirit’s help, apply them to other people’s personal experience
now. The second thing to remember is that godly counsel isn’t just a
knowledge based approach to problem solving. Godly counsel must also
come from the life experience of the counselor. The people we are
talking to look for how our information has first been lived out under
God’s direction in the counselors life. Godly counselors are people who
speak from conviction and experience as well as knowing the truth of
what God has said. As David pointed out, we have made God’s laws our
own, so that our lives actually reflect the truths God has given us to
live by. May God help us to be godly people who give genuinely good
counsel.
Psalm 37:30 The
godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. 31 They have
made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.
Roy Wisner
