Gems From Pastor Jim

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by Jim Hughes

CrossProv. 18:13 What a shame, what folly, to give advice before listening to the facts!

It happens all the time. People are quick to give advice before they know the facts. It takes time to discern truth from fiction. One must listen carefully and give careful thought to what he hears. One must be sure that what he hears is actually what the truth is. We are not God and mistakes are made, but we can avoid a lot of mistakes in the advice we give by doing our homework first. There are several reasons why we are not very good listeners.

We tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We think of ourselves as being wise and able to readily share our wisdom with others. We often consider ourselves able to discern truth from error without much investigation. We often are very poor listeners, wanting to talk more than listen. We often are not really knowledge about the subject at hand and do not want to admit it. We sometimes consider ourselves too busy to take the time to listen to the facts.

Whatever the reason, poor listeners give more often than not poor advice. We lead others astray and create problems for them and ultimately ourselves. It is foolish to give advice without knowing what we are talking about. We lose our respectability and the trust of others. We become the problem instead of the problem solver.

Wise is he who is grounded in the Word of God so that when advice is sought for he can speak from the context of the Scriptures. Wise is he who is so in touch with the Lord that he knows when to keep silent about things he is not able to adequately give advice on. Wise is he who understands that he does not know all things and is not too proud to admit it. Wise is he who loves others enough to not lead them astray with bad advice.

God gives us minds to use properly, to help one another think and act Biblically about things. Let us be careful when we give advice. Let us be sure that we are grounded in the Word and know the facts before we speak.

Watch over your soul carefully. Be honest about yourself. When you see pride creeping in, confess it to the Lord. Do not let it get a foothold in your heart because it can destroy your soul. In all things seek to honor Christ and resist the temptation to feed off the honor others may bestow on you. Be gracious when others praise you and redirect their praises to God who alone is worthy to be praised.

Before and After the Honeymoon

About the Author:

Jim HughesSpending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

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