SCROLL DOWN TO THE COMMENTS!
What You'll Discover in this Episode:
164: Counseling and Discipleship
The Great Commission and the Great Commandment
What is biblical counseling? It is living a godly Christ-centered life and passing this on to others -- walking with the Lord, loving the Lord, knowing the Word and being filled and touched by the Holy Spirit. It is being involved in the local body of Christ in church life, worshipping with your whole heart, mind and soul. It is walking day-by-day in relationship with other people loving God and loving others, walking in the Great Commission and evangelism and teaching people in the Word of God, walking by the Spirit and crossing paths with people who need guidance.
In this crossing of paths, God will use us to help guide them to the path of discipleship because we are instruments in the Redeemer's hand. In biblical counseling, we believe that the Word of God is sufficient and the Holy Spirit has the power to bring forth the right counsel. As biblical counselors, as we serve God, it is Him at work in us. He works upon us, in us and through us as we walk the path of discipleship.
Biblical Counseling in a Gentle Voice. We want to have a gentle voice. We want to be those that consider to restore gently. Those people who have battled sin are broken, bruised and beat up by the world. We want to get their feet on solid rock. We want to pick them up, grab them and rescue them. That's a lot of work.
Working with a Network of Biblical Counselors. When you work with a group of trusted and equipped people, we can always get help when we get stuck with a person that we want to rescue. Because we don't to leave those people hanging. When we help, we help fully and wholeheartedly.
Biblical Counseling is walking with the Lord and calling others to walk alongside with you as you walk with Him. We need God's guidance to navigate.
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1.) I love the fact that biblical counselling is all about the word of God. Knowing the word, trying to walk in it and coming alongside others.
2.) That it is a theological matter and not psychological integration. Therefore we don’t have to put our trust in degrees, just as the apostle Paul said he counted all that dung. Why ? Because wisdom and knowledge for the Christian life are found in a person. Jesus.
I was so happy to hear that God uses everyday people. Yes, I have heard this many times, but the way it was presented in this Podcast made a difference. A reminder of the freedom we have in Christ. A reminder that we have freedom to know the Word of God. So that we can teach others about God, and Jesus. Also, that we are doing this with a gentle voice. No one wants to come in to speak with you about a problem, then have you look down on them and make them feel worse. We want to pick them up. Encourage them. Also, we can’t read peoples mind. People don’t always tell the truth. But we have the Holy Spirit that can give us discernment and wisdom. The heart is deceitful. It’s all about Jesus, and God working through us.
Exactly we can make a guess but ultimately it’s only the Lord who can address another person’s heart issues. Sure we don’t even know what our own heart issues are half the time. Praise him that he wants our hearts not just outward behaviours. Because once he has our hearts the fruit begins to grow.
Counseling with a gentle voice reminds me that we need to have the Lord’s care and compassion for those being counseled. We need to weigh the cost and our commitment to see the counselee through their time of need and to focus on the fact that the Lord is the counselor.
What struck me the most in this podcast was the fact that Biblical Counseling is “walking with the Lord and calling others to walk alongside you”. To me that describes a beautiful connection from God to us to each other and back. I love that it is leading others to a deeper walk with God and a deeper examination of what He has called each of us to, one body, many parts. It’s not giving them a blurb or three that focuses on the problem, but a process that leads them to knowing the God that can help them with every problem they will face. I think of the scripture where Paul says “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ..” 1 Corinthians 11:1 which always speaks to me about how I should live a life worthy of imitating because I am imitating Christ and in this I can lead others into imitating Christ in their own lives. Discipleship by how I live my life in front of others (whether I know they are watching or not).
Well said Joe. Others, walking along side of us. Absolutely. And leading others to a deeper walk with God. Thank you for sharing some really good insight.
Counseling with a gentle voice is such a great concept. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 “If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” That is what it boils down to. People do not care how much we know until they know how much we care. We are to speak the truth in love; guiding and encouraging our fellow brothers and sisters to a deeper relationship with the true and living God.
This concept also jumped out at me. I often think about people who said they went to church and they just got beat up on. People in the church wanting to call down fire, like James and John, but not realizing that those people with problems that come to our church are often doing so to find something different. Their sin beats them up, the world beats them up, the lies beat them up, then they come to a church and too often get beat up there too. Even if they attempt to be in our face about it, it’s often just to see how we will react. Will we show them love and compassion, while also standing firm on what the Word says about sin? Or will we beat them down some more instead of trying to lift them up to the standards of God? That gentle voice mimics the gentle voice of Holy Spirit. The Bible says it’s the “kindness of God that leads men to repentance”. Romans 2:4. Love is certainly firm and stands for the truth, but His love is gentle. It’s a key component of his character according to Galatians. I enjoyed reading your response.
It is so encouraging to me to look through the Bible and see the people the Lord used. They weren’t used because they were great on their own but they were imperfect humans that God empowered to do His work. It’s humbling that the Lord would be willing to use people at all. We always need to keep that humble attitude, realizing that the Lord is the one at work, we are just a tool or instrument that He chooses to use to reach others.
This truth also ministered to me Angela as I thought about how every member of the body has a part to play in the Kingdom and that God will use us if we see ourselves as instruments in His Hands. We have so many examples of persons who God used in the Bible that maybe if they lived in our time they would be rejected as unqualified to represent God. I am so grateful that when God called us, He equipped us for this ministry. I don’t have to feel intimidated by those who are called experts because in Christ I will find the treasure of wisdom and knowledge, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We don’t even have to depend on ourselves to do the work of ministry because it is God who is at work in us and will work through us to bring change in people’s lives. Knowing this makes us dependent on the Holy Spirit and not on our own strength.
Counseling and Discipleship really do go hand in hand, being ministered to and shown the Love and redemptive work on the cross. Then to go out and show others. That’s disciplining into Him. God is our counselor and how many times have we needed His guidance and counsel? It was HIM who pulled us from our mess and we are able to teach others about HIM and HIS mercy, love and grace. The importance of serving God and allowing HIM to work through us so others whom may not know HIM can see the peace that God brings. Thank you Pastor Jeff for this podcast for us to always seek the throne of Grace. Hebrews 4:16
I know that I am always in need of the Lord’s counsel and guidance. God uses people daily to speak to my heart and guide me. It amazes me that God can use an imperfect person like me to be an instrument to reach others for him.
I agree serena it really is a totally different approach to anything the world has to offer. Turning the whole ‘expert’ model on its head. We cannot fix people’s hearts only God can do that.