Thoughts on Christian Counseling

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What Is Christian Counseling

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Christian counseling is a form of discipleship. As a Christian, we must counsel the whole person. That includes mind, body, and soul with techniques learned from careful study but generated by the Holy Spirit. Christian counseling cannot be defined by simply adding some Bible verses to a therapy session. The goals of Christian living lead us to abandon hope in our personal strength and to rely totally on Christ. Secular therapy seeks to help the person reach a greater degree of autonomy, and, as a consequence, become self-focused and not God focused. Many well meaning clients and counselors miss their target by following the old adage,
“I can make it with God as my co-pilot.”
If God is our co-pilot, we need to change seats!

The Christian counselor can be identified by observing their desire to help people overcome problems in a Christ-honoring manner. Here is a story to help illustrate my concept of what it means to be a Christian counselor.

Imagine a man stranded on an island, and he cannot find fresh water close to his present location. He does not want to leave the beach, it is so beautiful, and he is afraid to trudge through the jungle and search for better alternatives. Therefore, he begins to drink salt water from the ocean. What he may or may not be aware of is how the salt water is slowly dehydrating him, and it will eventually lead to his death. Now, suppose a person from a part of the island he has not explored appears on the scene before he becomes dehydrated and dies. That person knows where there is fresh flowing water that will sustain life for all who leave the place they have landed and search for it. Then, from farther down the beach, comes another person who tells our newly stranded person that he does not have to trudge through the jungle to reach a solution to his problem. The person from down the beach offers the new arrival a small piece of cloth, and then he tells him to filter the water through it, similar to reverse osmosis, and it will make the water drinkable. Now the newly stranded person has a decision to make. Does that person walk the path that leads to an endless supply of living water, or do they take the piece of cloth and use it until it is worn out only to have more problems to overcome in the future?

It does not take a rocket scientist, as though they hold all the answers, to figure out this analogy. Therefore, I will not belabor the point of the illustration. Christian counseling is about using the gifts God has given us, in conjunction with the tools we are able to gather along our educational journey to help others connect with the Great Physician.

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