What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

aiki said:

"Only one life,
'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last."

"Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving.
My warrant is the word of God,
Nought else is worth believing."



Yes, some. Perhaps the greatest regret I have was being in a rush at the gym one day and hurting myself. I ruptured a disc in my lower back. That injury has adversely affected my life in ways I could not have imagined. The pain and restrictions to my living resulting from that one injury have been enormous. And all because I was in a rush at the gym. Stupid.

One other thing I would urge you never to forget: Your happiness is not God's primary concern. He's much more interested in you being holy, and wise, and loving. In fact, God will act to dissolve your happiness if it will help keep you dependent upon Him and create in you a holy, Christ-centered, and wise heart.

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Uriah S said:

I know I'm late to the thread, but can't help but chip in.

Best advice? "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)
Someone had to say it

My only regret is not taking that advice on board sooner.

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THE W said:

college is a scam....don't go.

learn a skilled trade instead.

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Mathetes66 said:

What is the best piece of advise I can give a young Christian?

As a young Christian, I was told by other older Christians who discipled me that, FIRST I need to daily know Christ & walk in fellowship & obedience to Him as His disciple/follower the rest of my life--& then what He has revealed to you in His Word & your walk toward maturity in Him, make Him known to others.

'Know God, know peace; no God no peace.'

DEVELOP the DAILY HABIT of a devotional time with the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking His face, to know Him and then to make Him known to others.



John 8:31,32,34,35 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, “If you continue to remain (abide) in My word, THEN you are truly My disciples & THEN you will KNOW THE TRUTH & THEN the TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE...Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Isaiah 50:4,5 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me MORNING BY MORNING, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord GOD has opened My ear & I was not disobedient nor did I turn back.

Proverbs 8:33-35 Listen to instruction & be wise; do not ignore it. "Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For whoever finds me finds life & obtains the favor of the LORD.

Psalm 84:10 For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 27:4 I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD & seeking (inquiring of) Him in His temple.

John 6:67-69 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed AND have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And apart from You there is nothing upon the earth that I desire. My flesh & my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart & my portion (inheritance) forever.

Luke 10:38-42 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations & she came up to Him & said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered & said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried & bothered about so many things; but ONLY ONE THING IS NECESSARY & Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Phil 3:7-15 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless (as a loss) because of what Christ has done. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ & be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of His resurrection & participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death & so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brethren, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things.

I regret not spending more time with Jesus & in His Word, than pursuits in this life. They will all pass away & most of my university education is forgotten, but the 'good portion' I have not lost.

Psalm 119:9-16 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.

10With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

11Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

12Blessed are You, O LORD;
Teach me Your statutes.

13With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.

14I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.

15I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.

16I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.

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Aabbie James said:

If parents don't teach their children to fear God, the devil will teach them to reject and hate God. Desire to live righteously. God is worthy of honor.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.​

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grampster said:

Read the bible and pray that the Holy Spirit will give you some understanding. You may spend your entire life only having parts of the bible become crystal clear to you. That's because the Lord gives you that understanding exactly when you need it...even though you might not know in the moment that you needed it.

Find a copy of Mere Christianity written by CS Lewis. He has other books discussing various subjects of faith such as God in the Dock, Christian Reflections, The Problem of Pain, The Weight of Glory. C.S Lewis had a wonderful ability to discuss Christian faith in an understandable way in his writings. You will find his commentary very valuable.

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2PhiloVoid said:

Yes, the best advice I ever received was from a very wise man who lived long ago, and while his advise may not apply to you, it has proven helpful to me in my life and has stuck with me, and that bit of advice is: "Repent!"

Unfortunately, as the account of that old wise man goes, his audience killed Him for it. So, I'm kind of leery about passing that bit of advice on, especially in this day and age.

But seriously, on a practical scale, and as I tell my own son, you can't go wrong by doing yourself the favor of avoiding all of the moral garbage this world will hold out for you to consume. So, do your best to side-step it and stay away from it.

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rockytopva said:

My old pastor....

1. Very disciplined guy - Up at 6AM every morning
2. Rejoiced in what he called being a Pentecostal Holiness country preacher
3. Revivals - At least one every two months - All with unique and good evangelists
4. Would let the Holy Spirit have his way in service
5. Take time to pray for the sick at church and in the hospitals. Carried a bottle of anointing oil with him
6. Was a friendly guy and would come visit you
7. Loved God and very Christlike.
8. A great, loving, and supportive family man as well
9. Sometimes after Sunday night service we would all go out and eat at the local Pizza Inn. Everyone got along great and there were no visible generational barriers between the people.

I was very much aware that these times were coming to an end and the thought bothered me.

I was listening to two sisters talk in an Assembly of God church and they said they heard that in the last days the people were going to have to, "Cut their own paths.”

“Cut your own paths.” This was the best advice I have ever received and wish I would have followed it earlier. I would have gotten a degree in electrical technology and done a lot better career wise.

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Rene Loup said:

"You got to find a church, Rene."

I really mean it. I got my theological advice from forums on the internet this past decade and it almost destroyed my faith. Seek an actual church with real, genuine people who focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment and be willing to accept criticism to gain self improvement.

I came to my church with all these questions that really screwed me up and asked a pastor about them. The first thing he told me was, "You have a very unrealistic view of God and life." I did not like hearing it at first but after a year of going to this church and detoxing from all the crap I've internalized from right winged American fundamentalist forums, I'm a lot happier and genuinely love God and others now.

In short, seek real people and real churches instead of getting advice from the internet. Nothing beats the real thing.

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mindlight said:

Whatever I face , however unfair and however much it seems that God has abandoned me I will still trust in God believing in his goodness and trusting in his love for me. It is a quote from Job that has got me through everything. In the end God comes good.

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aiki said:

Happiness is circumstantial. By this I mean, it is circumstance-dependent. If one's circumstances are good, one is happy. If one's circumstances are foul, one is unhappy. Happiness, then, is fleeting, as transitory as our circumstances are, and so is impossible to hold onto for very long. God wants to give us joy instead. Joy is God-dependent, you see. Joy endures even through difficulty and pain because it is anchored, not in circumstances, but in the unchanging, holy, beautiful Creator. A person who is filled with enduring joy is one who is stable, consistent, and of much more use to God than one who is chasing after the next moment that will make them happy.

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Tom Farebrother said:

No, I don’t think so. I mean God doesn’t expect us to be irresponsible. The Adam and Eve story shows him handing over stewardship of the earth, and he gives humans freedom to act in ways that can have terrible consequences. We are supposed to learn how to do good and recognise what is not good ‘through constant use’ (Heb 4:15). We are supposed to make ourselves useful (2 Thess 3:11) - that doesn’t happen by accident. It’s really worth studying all of the relevant passages on the idea of interdependence - it’s too easy to get into that notion that faith means going with the flow, it’s not the biblical message by any means, to get a clear picture it’s necessary to spend the time to take in the full message. Peter exhorts us to ‘make every effort’, Paul makes it clear that we need to be responsible members of society. Abraham’s life is instructive, God speaks to him yes but decades go by in which he applies himself to successful work, becoming an extremely successful farmer in very uncertain times was no mean feat.

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