I love shopping on Amazon, but I also like to seek advice before buying something. I ask friends who already have the product. I scour through the many reviews of the product, looking for the five-star positives and wondering what made someone give a product only one or two stars.

God gives us advice. He tells us to love him first. But often there are other things that creep into our hearts and become more important than God. He says to love others like we love ourselves. But gossiping and bullying and teasing to make ourselves look better become our norm.

It’s been said that a true friend will stab you in the front, not in the back. Meaning they may tell you something you don’t want to hear but need to hear.

God stabbed his own Son in the side and jammed nails into his wrists and feet for you! He knows how we fall short, but he also knows how he can help us.

As the apostle Paul reminds us, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:34). True, it may not make sense to our brains, but trust God’s advice when he says, “I have plans for you, plans to prosper you.”

Hear his counsel when he says, “Come to me you who are weary and burdened.” And remember that no matter what, nothing can separate you from his love—a love more precious than any five-star rating on the internet.