“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)
Good counsel is hard to come by. Everyone has an opinion, but to find that one person who can tell you what you need to hear is a gift. Normally, a good counselor is a person who has gone through what you’re going through. They understand. But they don’t just sympathize, they exhort you to find a godly, supernatural response.
The worst counsel you can get are from those who have failed their tests. They can’t give you what they haven’t received. They do more harm than good when they justify a fleshly response. How can those who have failed to find the grace of God for their hurts help others walk in mercy and forbearance? The root of bitterness that troubles their heart can only defile others.
The crying need in so many churches is not better preaching from the pulpit, but greater maturity in the pew. We need godly, older women, who have learned how to love their husbands and children with a Christlike love, to mentor the younger women. We need seasoned, godly men who have ruled their own spirits and homes well, those who have found victory over bitterness, anger, and lust, to be fathers in the faith to struggling younger men. The work of the ministry is attached to the perfecting of the saints. (Eph. 4:12) It is a work that the whole body supplies. (Eph. 4:16)
Paul was aware that the Corinthian church had many teachers; but he knew their greatest need was to have more fathers. (1 Cor. 4:15) There are too many orphans in our churches. God raise up more fathers and mothers in the faith among us, and more growing disciples who have ears to hear.