When I was growing up, there were commercials for a stock brokerage firm that said “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.”

The commercials were memorable because though they started differently, they always ended the same way. The company set itself up as the authority in their field.

Who holds that type of authority in your mind?

Who is it in your life that when this person speaks, you always listen because of the wisdom shared?

A grandfather, a grandmother, parents, a mentor, friends?

Make sure you take to heart the good advice your given by whoever it is in your life with authority. Cherish the good advice, it could keep you from learning things the hard way.

Here are some things I’ve learned over time. And often I learned the hard way because I didn’t listen to solid advice earlier in my life.

*Speak in a way to convey love, not prove you’re right.

*Write in a way to touch the heart, not impress the scholar.

*Pray in a way that asks to be a blessing, not to seek a blessing.

*Love in a way that shows humility, not to meet your own needs.

*Live in a way to please a merciful God, not a fickle group of people.

You and I need people who will share wisdom with us. We need people who care enough to speak the truth, even if it’s hard to hear. And we need to be able to hear it without being defensive about it.

You don’t need E. F. Hutton, you need God’s wisdom, and many times it comes through thoughtful people all around you.

Listen, learn, and live it out.

-Tom Wise