My Biblical Counseling Model
One of the great privileges of being a pastor is that people will often ask me to give them “counsel” on any given number of challenges that they face. I always clarify that request by reminding people that I am not a psychologist. I’m a pastor, a theologian. I’m a “shepherd” in the journey of life. I consider my place to be pastoral, spiritual and Biblical. So, my insights and advice will be based on the teaching of the Bible.
As a result, I have developed 6 targets in the Biblical counseling model that I follow.
- Truth
In any given struggle that you face, you have to seek truth as the light that will bring clarity to your mind. Of course, as a Christian, we believe that absolute truth exists, and God wants us to know it in order to be free. Jesus prayed in John 17: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” The truth can set your free!
- Trust
One of the major contributors to the healing process is the trust that must be gained in order to be heard. Trust between the counselor and counselee is a vital step in leading people to the healing of their souls. As I was taught in the days of my youth, “trust must be earned.” In order for another person to be vulnerable about the pain they are experiencing in their lives, they must believe that you are a trustworthy person. Trust creates safety.
- Talk
There is healing in hearing the truth. Talking involves verbalizing your thoughts and feelings as a means of bringing clarity to your own understanding. Talking with another person that you trust brings healing and freedom. My experience is that some people get trapped in a memory and talking about it will open the door to the mind in the presence of another human being.
- Tears
Learning to feel is a part of learning to heal. Truth and talk are meant to connect your head and your heart. Simply knowing something as a fact will not set you free. Knowledge does not bring power if it is divorced from your feelings. The process of growing as a human being involves learning to ask yourself two important questions: What are you thinking about? And what do you feel? The mind cannot being fully healed until the heart experiences the feelings that are present.
- Time
Some wounds need lots of time to heal. People want instant healing but that is seldom possible. Healing of the soul is “organic”, i.e. it’s a process that takes time like a plant being exposed to the elements of sunshine, water, and TIME. Real growth in your life can’t be forced. Time is in fact “a great healer” when combined with the right elements in relationship with others.
- Tenderness
Compassion from another human being has great power to heal the soul. Scars that have formed can be healed by a tender-hearted counselor. Listening with compassion is vital to helping others heal. Tenderness is the healing touch that many long to experience in their hearts. Kindness draws out the poison of an abrupt and harsh world.
All these traits and more are bound up in Jesus our Lord who is described by Isaiah as the “wonderful counselor, the mighty God and the father of eternity.” He wants to heal your soul. He can heal your soul. Make an appointment with Him ASAP!
Waiting with you,
Happy 40th Anniversary City Centre! 1980-2020
- Well done. Take a moment to celebrate God’s goodness to us as a church family.
- Keep going and keep growing (in every way!) If we coast, we are toast!
- Stay faithful. Revisit and renew your personal participation and commitment to our core beliefs and practices as a church family. If we compromise, we are crushed. “Hold fast” to Him. To His Word. To His Church.
- Stop regularly to look back on all that God has done. Memory can be a great tool to inspire us to move forward in faith.
- Love one another. We are living in raucous days and it’s increasingly difficult to find the oneness that is prescribed in the Bible as a key factor in the health of the church. Don’t kid yourself, City Centre has had moments of struggling to stay united, but in the end, we have, and it is “good and pleasant” when church family dwell together in unity.
- Give God the Glory. If we take the credit for what God is doing, we will be shelved.
It’s not exaggerating one iota to say that thousands have come through our doors, some were here only for a short time, some have stayed longer, and we have been blessed to be a blessing. Our Easter services in recent years have shown us the potential we have to reach this great city with the truth that is in Jesus. Pray that our vision and passion remains strong for the next leg of the journey.
This coming Sunday you will be able to hear a word of greeting from all 4 of the senior pastors who have been blessed to be your pastor. (I write this blog as number 4!). My word of blessing and challenge to our church family is taken from Jesus’ famous sermon in Matthew 5. In fact, this will be my text for Sunday, because the words seem fitting, knowing you as I do.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5)
