Should All Christians Give Advice? All Christians should not shy from giving advice when asked. We live in a fallen world. The Spiritual Battle going on has severe consequences. We should be willing to share our light within. Darkness is lonely, bitter, and hopeless. Light can bring healing to all who inquire about it. We are a light on a hill.
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When Should Christians Give Advice?
Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.
Proverbs 24:6(NIV)
Giving advice is good, but have you ever asked yourself whether it is okay for all Christians to give advice. Should it be done by specific people in the body of Christ, like pastors and church elders or can anyone give advice? The type of advice you give can make or break someone.
It can cause someone to grow spiritually or discourage them from pursuing God.
It is important to receive counsel especially on matters of faith from church leaders. But it is also okay for all Christians to give advice as long as what they say is within the context of the Bible. We should not tell other people things that contradict our faith.
Below are the reasons why every Christian should give advice:
1. God Speaks Through Anyone he Chooses / Should All Christians Give Advice?
Jesus told his disciples that they did not choose him, but he chose them. Since he is the same yesterday, today, and forever we also don’t choose ourselves he does.
What this means is that we don’t get to choose what God wants us to do. He chooses how to use us. And one of the ways that God does that is by causing us to give counsel to people who need it. It is impossible to restrict who should give advice because doing so means prohibiting God from using people the way he sees fit.
If God used a donkey to talk to man, then he can use anything, and that includes any kind of Christian
(Numbers 22:28-31).26 “Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.
28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said.
31Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.”
2. We All Have Different Stories that Need to be Shared with the World
Every Christian has gone through something, either good or bad, that they need to share with the world. It is through giving advice that we get to share our experiences with people who are facing the same challenges that we have gone through.
When we give advice to people, especially those that are hurting, we are sharing our stories and testimonies with these people and helping them to see who God is in our lives. If giving advice is limited to certain people in the body of Christ, then so many people with extraordinary stories will not be able to share them and make a difference in the world.
If you think you’re not qualified to give advice to people around you, know that God has given you the grace to do so. He wants you to use your stories and experiences to give counsel to those that are hurting. Do not let your mistakes or failures cause you to feel unqualified to give anyone advice.
3. God Has Put Us in Different Locations in the World for a Purpose
If giving advice is limited to certain people within the body of Christ, then those that are hurting and need urgent advice will have to go to those people for advice. But that will not be practical enough or effective because these people will have so many people to deal with and little time. Like Moses, these leaders will become overwhelmed because they will have to deal with many cases daily Listen to Jethro’s Advice.
(Exodus 18:14-27). 14 “When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.
16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
20 Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, the fifties, and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter because they will share it with you.
23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, the fifties, and tens.
26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.”
Also Our Leaders many times are very busy. The ratio of leaders to sheep, makes the leaders in small minority. If you are able to help and provide encouragement do so.
They will also be limited because they’re not able to reach other people that are hurting and in need of advice but are afraid to go out there and seek it. Sometimes when we give advice, we do it unknowingly because it is the Holy Spirit leading us to do so.
You also see this in the actions of the Apostles when the church was first established. They stayed around Jerusalem for guidance. While their influence began to move out in further widening circles.
There have been stories of strangers giving people timely advice that enabled them to make life-changing decisions. Imagine if these people held back or advised the person to look for pastors or church elders. The problem would not have been dealt with promptly, and who knows, maybe the stressed person would have committed suicide.
Now there are a few things we need to note when it comes to giving and receiving advice.
The Person Giving Advice Should First Pray
Pray about it before they give counsel to the person who has approached them with a problem. Ask the Holy Spirit to provide you with the word of knowledge so that you can be able to speak into the situation that this person is going through and give them timely advice that will not only help them but will bring glory to God
(Ephesians 4:29). ” 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
This is very important because many times we try to give advice from what our limited vision can see. But if we fall back on God’s seeing ability our advice can become Advice from God if our reliance is strong enough
The Person Receiving Advice Should / Pray for Discernment
Measure what they hear against the word of God and take whatever advice they get to God so that he can make things clear for them.
Before you go and seek advice from any Christian, ask God to give you the gift of discernment so that you can be able to know whether the advice you’ve been given is from the Spirit of God or not. Some advice may sound good, but it may not be from God. So we need to be very careful about who we are listening to.
All in all
It is not bad for all Christians to give advice. The Holy Spirit gives different people the word of knowledge and wisdom to speak into other people’s situations when there is a need. Putting a restriction on who should provide advice is, in reality, putting restrictions on God because he uses anyone. He is not a respecter of persons.
God works through us, and he is not limited by our qualifications or flaws.
Do not undermine yourself or look down on someone when they try to advise you about something just because they don’t have specific capabilities. King Solomon was young, but God used him to give advice to others. Today he can use anyone old or young, poor or rich, to give advice to others.
Proverbs 13:20, Solomon says “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Conclusion
But care has to be taken both by the person giving advice and one that is receiving. To the person giving advice, make sure that you remain within the context of the Bible. Do not add or subtract from God’s word. To the person receiving advice, ask for discernment so that you can know whether the advice you’re receiving is inspired by God or not.