Advice. The thing that can cause the most comfort and the most discomfort at the same time. Why do we even ask for advice?? Or the thing that always seems to get people going, unsolicited advice.
Becoming a stepmother and wife in the same day I received more advice than I could possibly even comprehend. Giving birth for the first time I received my second round of advice that was in an overwhelming capacity.
Did I want or even need all this advice? Maybe, I might have, but probably not. In hindsight, some of it has helped me tremendously. It was at this time that I came across a verse in Romans 14:19 that says "let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification" I know Paul is talking about food and what to eat in the chapter but God spoke to me specifically about the advice I was receiving and how to respond. I needed to respond in a way that produced peace and built up the giver. Not always easy. My sinful self tells me to respond with "I know" or "you don't know MY kid" or last but not least, "that's just not me".
So what does responding in peace look like? Well for me it has been a learning process, and it varies with each person that gives it. For some it means just shutting my mouth and NOT responding. Others it means acknowledging that they were thinking of me and saying a simple "thank you". Others it means, listening and doing. Some of the advice that I had shut my mouth to has become the most valuable. I now know not to turn away people that are giving advice even when I really don't want to hear it because I have learned that God uses so many many types of people to mold me to be more like Him.
How do you respond?
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