"Can You Hear Me Now?" in American Sign LanguageSampel

God Gives Advice Through Other People
By Rick Warren

“The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.”(Proverbs 12:26 NLT)

God speaks to you through friends and family, particularly if they are believers. Proverbs 12:26 says,“The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray”(NLT).

We all have blind spots. You have things in your life that you’ll never see that need to be corrected, so God puts people around you to tell you the truth. Everybody needs somebody in their life who loves them enough to tell them the truth.

Do you have anybody like that in your life? Do you have godly friends who don’t just tell you what you want to hear but love you enough to level with you and say, “You know what? You’re blowing it right now. You’re making a big mistake. You’re full of pride. Are you going in the wrong direction”?

None of us see it all clearly. I’ve got about a dozen people in my life who have permission to get in my face and say, “I don’t care if you are the pastor of Saddleback — you’re blowing this. You’re wrong. Have you ever thought about ‘this’?” If you don’t have anybody in your life who loves you enough to do that, you need to find them.

You also need to be that kind of person for someone else. Are you a friend like that to anybody? If you just let people get away with it when you see them going in the wrong direction and you don’t say, “What are you doing? Don’t you see what’s wrong with this?” then you have a problem.

One of the primary benefits of a small group is feedback and counsel. These should be people who you get to know so well that you can trust them and give them permission to speak into your life, and you have permission to speak into theirs.

God wants to speak through you and use you to help others grow, but it takes courage. And God wants to speak through other people to you, but it takes humility.

Some of you know somebody who is headed down the wrong path. They’re getting involved in an affair or some kind of addiction. Or they’re walking away from the Lord. You can see it, and you have kept your mouth shut. You’ve used the 21st-century cop-out, “It’s none of my business.”

It is your business if you love them. Love cares. Love says, “I love you enough not to let you do this. Don’t blow your life. I care enough about you to risk the relationship.” When you do that, God will speak through you.

“Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy”(Proverbs 27:6).

Talk It Over

Why does it take humility for God to speak to you through other people?

Who in your life can get in your face and tell you when you’re wrong? Why do you trust that person to give you godly advice?

Is there someone you need to confront with divine truth? What do you think is the best way to do this?