Discipleship IV – “Building Christian Counselors”

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The purpose of BUILDING CHRISTIAN COUNSELORS is to help Christians know what to counsel. If someone asks, “Should I get a divorce?”; “What do I do about my kids?”; “How do I pay my bills?”; or about any other direction in life, Christians should be able to give advice based on what the Bible says about the matter. These lessons are designed to teach the “what” in building peoples’ lives, not the “how to” of counseling. The first issue in helping others is not how to counsel but what to counsel.

It is essential that Christians know what advice to give others to avoid giving incorrect, damaging, or ungodly information when trying to help others. The person giving advice and the one being advised will have to answer to God for what they do with the information they give or receive. The lessons in this course are Bible studies on various matters of life such as marriage, divorce, re-marriage, children, relationships, finances, etc. The lessons are Bible-based and express clear biblical perspectives.

To understand the lessons in this book, each person needs to separate himself from previous studies. About ninety-five percent of what is taught about life is not Bible-based. There is a lot of teaching in the world that calls itself “Christian counseling”, but it is far from being Christian when compared to what the Bible says. Many counselors and counseling organizations function under the guise of Christian counseling, but in reality, the teaching is psychologically-based, not biblically-based.

Pay close attention to what the Bible says because the flesh and sin nature will always play games with Christians. Many times Christians try to rationalize and justify things and come up with conclusions based on their own reasoning instead of what the Bible says. Most Christians have been taught from the basis of human perspectives and experience rather than the Word of God. A person giving Christian counsel has to read, accept, and understand the Bible to know what God says about life issues. It is not a matter of what a person thinks is best, but what God said. In Ezekiel 13:1-3 God told Ezekiel to speak against the prophets who prophesied what they believed in their hearts instead of the Word of God. “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.” It is not enough to feel or believe something in your heart, a person must know and teach what the Word of God says.

As Christians study these lessons, they may look back at decisions made in the past and use these lessons to judge themselves and whether or not they followed the Word of God in different areas of their lives. These lessons are designed to teach for the future; not to judge the past. Christianity should always look forward and not look back. A Christian is to live his life based on where he is going, and not where he came from. Be very careful not to use these lessons for condemnation or commendation: one leads to guilt and the other leads to pride. Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethen, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”