Proverbs 29:12 Good counsel

If a ruler pays attention to liars, all his advisers will be wicked. (NIV)

When a ruler is listening to lies, all of his officials tend to become wicked.  (ISV)

A prince that gladly heareth lying words, hath all his servants wicked. (Douay-Rheims)

I studied for a while before the Spirit revealed a little something that we'd not touched on before. Sometimes it is difficult in Proverbs, for Solomon often says the same thing in slightly different words, and I wanted to bring something new from the verse that would help all of us.

When I laid these translations of the verse side-by-side, I realized what the application was for us. Do you recall when we have studied the importance of good and wise counsel? How the people from whom we seek advice, need to be godly folk who will put our good ahead of the feelings and emotions of the moment?
It's important to be able to rely on those special friends. We need to be able to count on them to be honest, to be faithful to God, and to tell us what we need to know --- not what we want to know, or what will make us feel better for the moment, right?

I put the words that we will focus on into bold type up there. Check it out again.

This puts the burden squarely on us. Do we listen just as intently to the truth, even when it hurts? Or would we rather hear some sugar-coated facts that spare our feelings?
Are we showing by our body language and our words, that we value and appreciate the constructive criticism that our mentors give us? Or are we looking despondent, or worse, being defensive about what they tell us?
Our body language and our spoken words can cause those whose advice is so needful, to soft-pedal what they tell us. They may water down their counsel because we don't seem to be ready to accept and implement the changes we might need to make. It's difficult, yes, but part of growing into the wise Christian that we want to be is to have the ability to encourage those who counsel us. To accept and even be grateful for those who will help us.
Do we show that we want their good counsel?