We should offer counsel with God’s Word, and be humble enough to say to our brothers and sisters that they need to seek the Lord on their own. Remember, we only know in part, so we might be missing something. Only God has the full understanding of the situation, therefore we must defer to Him as we give our counsel.
Isn’t it interesting that the less you know, the more willing you are to give counsel? Now, don’t let me throw you under the bus to make me feel better; it’s an unfortunate fact that the less I knew, the more willing I was to give counsel. As a childless, unmarried, single man with no money, I was brimming with counsel about raising children, marriage, and money. And I didn’t just have counsel, I had the conclusive word from God. I had Bible verses; therefore I had the answer. But the interesting thing about God’s word is that it can be twisted (2 Peter 3:16), taken out of context (Matt 4), and must be rightly divided (2 Tim 2:15). I was very good at reading and applying the Bible, but I lacked discernment, wisdom, and humility.
And that’s the ugly truth: I was proud in my counsel. I would come in with guns blazing to tell you exactly what you needed to do and why. I cringe thinking back to the things I said to my family and my friends. And it isn’t even that I think my counsel was all that far away from the truth, but I was proud, and I didn’t leave any room for anyone else to be able to seek the Lord and come to a different conclusion.