I Got Bad Advice

But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. —1 Kings 12:8

This moment for Rehoboam was a catastrophic failure. Leaning on the counsel of his young friends and disregarding the direction of older advisors, he makes a tragic decision that forever impacts the nation of Israel. And while I can read these words given sight of his impending catastrophe, how many times have I sought the path of least resistance and ignored good or even godly advice? Or how many times have you done the same?

Today you'll make around 35,000 choices. And the logic you'll use to make many of the choices include intuition, compliance, delegation, avoidance, prioritization, and maybe even the advice of others. But if you want to make the very best choices you'll do this—get and deploy biblical counsel, by ignoring bad counsel all-together. Here are eight signs of bad advice, so keep your eyes open today.

1. Bad advice is critical of people.
2. Bad advice is counter-biblical.
3. Bad advice is devoid of prayer.
4. Bad advice is exclusively confirming of our viewpoints.
5. Bad advice is lacking an intellectual challenge of our viewpoints.
6. Bad advice is given by someone who is not godly.
7. Bad advice is given by someone inexperienced in the area we need guidance.
8. Bad advice is given by someone who has a track record of poor decision making.

DO THIS: Avoid bad advice.

PRAY THIS: God, give me an eye for bad advice and help me make 35,000 great decisions today that bring honor to your name.