Soul Care #12: Life of the Counselor

The Life of the Counselor

Aside from the person who is standing in front of you asking for your counsel, there is a whole additional dynamic of what is happening in your own heart as you interact with them.

1) Are you aligned with God's purposes? People want you to change their circumstances and change their feelings, and you must own that you can't do either of these. You can however help them see how God wants to use their problem to draw them to Him. If someone comes to you hungry and desperate, you must resist all desires to be their savior. You are not there to make them feel better per say, but to truly care for their soul.

2) Are you addressing the real issue of their heart? Often the 'presenting problem' is just a doorway to the real issue. For example, is someone is doubting their salvation, you can explore that, but you also need to ask why it would be such a struggle to believe that God wouldn't abandon them.

3) Know thyself. What is the nature of your personality as it interplays with theirs? Is this a person you will tend to be drawn towards? A person you will find difficult to speak the truth to? A person you will tend to lack sympathy for? You have to know these things as you walk in.

You can fake a lot of things, but you can't fake counseling. The person in front of you is reading your every move because their life depends on it. Your relationship with them is what God is using to heal, so how you live, even if they never know, really does matter. You cannot take someone further than you are, especially in soul care.