Thursday, July 29, 2010

Why counsel?

Sometimes people ask me why I am studying biblical counseling. “Why would you want to counsel people? I could never do that,” I hear. I do believe that it is a specific calling for me, but, at the same time, Christians are all called to reach out to hurting people with the love of Christ in many different ways. We are to speak the truth in love to people (Ephesians 4:15). We are to be the body of Christ and to show people that there is hope, even in the midst of despair, because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Many things led me to pursue biblical counseling. The world is full of hurting people, often without hope. We see it daily in the news. I hear it in conversations with people. My dad had a personal experience with deep depression 2 years ago and I watched as he went from sheer hopelessness to restoration, by the power of God through prayer. That same year, I went on a mens’ weekend away with my church at the time (Morningside Baptist Church, Edinburgh) and listened to 2 friends sharing at an Open Mic’ time: one spoke of his own journey through depression and hope in Christ; the other a Clinical Psychologist with the NHS in Scotland, and of his passion as a Christian in that field. That day I knew that I needed to become a counselor. I am so thankful for God’s tugging at my heart as I was comfortably working for Scottish Water at that time.

Why pursue counseling? This song by Leeland and Brandon Heath sums it up well:

You live among the least of these

The weary and the weak

And it would be a tragedy

For me to turn away


All my needs You have supplied

When I was dead You gave me life

So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I´ll


Follow You into the homes of the broken

Follow You into the world

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God

Follow You into the world


Use my hands use my feet

To make Your kingdom come


To the corners of the earth

Until Your work is done


Faith without works is dead

On the cross Your blood was shed

So how could we not give it away so freely?


Follow You into the homes of the broken

Follow You into the world

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God

Follow You into the world

(repeat)


And I give all myself, I give all myself

I give all myself to YOU

(repeat)


Follow You into the homes of the broken

Follow You into the world (Follow YOU)

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God

Follow You into the world


Follow You into the homes of the broken

Follow You into the world

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God

© 2010 Leeland/Provident Label Group LLC.

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