Decision-Making and Ethics – Wise Counsel

This life is hard. If you haven’t experienced that yet, just wait—you will. The older you get, and the more you go through, the more you realize we need God to help us through every decision. When life’s challenges show up, and we face tough decisions, the first place we should go is to God. We spend time in prayer, in His word, and listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Those are amazing resources that God has given us to help us in this life. But that’s not all we have. God also encourages us to find other Believers whom we can trust to give us godly advice when we need it. This is called seeking wise counsel, and it is very important.

There are Bible verses, especially in Proverbs, that tell us we would be foolish to follow our own advice, and we would be wise to listen to and learn from trustworthy counselors (see Proverbs 1:5; 12:15). In Proverbs 15:22, it says that “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” So, if you want your plans to succeed, or you want to know how to do something best, don’t assume you have it figured out yourself. Get guidance.

The Bible gives us examples of how listening to wise counsel is beneficial. In Exodus 18, Moses was wearing himself out doing all the work all by himself from morning until evening (specifically, judging and instructing the people of Israel). He was headed for exhaustion. But Moses had a trusted, wise advisor in his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro advised Moses to delegate the responsibilities and tasks to God-fearing, trustworthy men. Jethro said, “If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied” (Exodus 18:23). So Moses, one of the most important prophets in the Christian faith, listened to wise counsel and did as he was advised. And he succeeded in his task. We should do the same. We should get guidance.

Moses, one of the most important prophets in the Christian faith, listened to wise counsel and did as he was advised. And he succeeded in his task. We should do the same.

But we shouldn’t get just any guidance. We should get wise guidance. This doesn’t mean asking every person you know to share their thoughts about your situation. It doesn’t mean posting your problems on social media to get random followers to chime in as “advisors.” You need to make sure you are choosing the right counselors to listen to. And there is a bit of a vetting process for that. You’ll need to choose people whom you can trust to listen and learn about your background and the whole story (just like Jethro did; see Exodus 18:8–10). They should be able to give biblical advice and be spiritually mature. They need to be good listeners. And they need to be willing to tell you the hard truth when you need to hear it, even if it may hurt a little (see Proverbs 27:6). A good advisor is trustworthy, can keep a confidence as needed, and is not self-seeking. They desire God’s will above their own, and even above your own. 

Being intentional about who you choose to be a counselor in your life is super important. There are good advisors and bad advisors. You need to listen to the wise ones. The Bible gives us an example of what not to do in King Rehoboam. He had one group of elders who gave him wise counsel to be kind and serve the people. But he also had a group of his peers who gave him foolish advice to speak harshly and threaten the people. After rejecting the advice from the wise counselors, Rehoboam listened to the arrogant, foolish advice of his friends. As a result, ten of the 12 tribes rebelled against him, and Israel was split. You can read the whole story in 1 Kings 12.

The decisions you face may not determine the path of an entire nation, but they are important to you. God wants you to seek Him first. He wants us to listen and to learn. And He wants us to seek wise counsel for guidance. So as you face your problems and tough decisions, prayerfully look for godly men and women whom you can trust to give you honest, wise advice. Then, be humble enough to follow the wise counsel you’ve been given.

If you have questions about your faith, about a relationship with God, or about how to develop godly relationships, please reach out to us on our website, experiencecc.com.