Personal responsibility before
God
In
Nouthetic counseling it is essential that the counselee needs to be led to take
personal responsibility.[1] Many people in secular therapies and in
worldly wisdom are well versed in passing the blame. Some counselees will hold fast to a victim
mentality that they believe entitles them to special circumstances of behavior.
Blame shifting is one of the sins that most Christians seem to tolerate. However, scripture is quite clear that we are
responsible ourselves for the way in which we respond to circumstances. Therefore it is imperative in counseling to
help the counselee understand that the cross has afforded them God’s help in
change. Again we can bring forth the
gospel in application to our daily lives.
James chapter one, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and a multitude of other verses
are written for our being equipped to stand in God’s strength rather than
succumb to our sin nature.
Equipping the Counselee to
Forgive
Contrary to what
is often admonished by the world, the misfortunes of life that happen to us do
not afford a right for us to take revenge or to demand our rights. The counselor can find great relief is given
when teaching the counselee about denial of self and of forgiveness. This responsibility unto God is seen in how
Christ behaved in our stead upon the cross and how as we have been forgiven we
ought to forgive.[2]
Therefore the
doctrine of forgiveness must become a part of the very being of the
counselee. We may need to confront them
where there is a need to go and seek forgiveness. Scripture tells us to examine ourselves
before taking the Lord’s Supper, otherwise we may eat it in judgment.[3] And Jesus Himself spoke of what procedures we
must take when confronted with the separation from God that occurs in our
unresolved issues with others.[4]
There is also a
great demand for counselees, especially those who idolize anger, to forgive
others. We see this in the parable of
the unrighteous steward and in the Sermon on the Mount. If we can lead our counselees to freely
forgive we will be setting them on a course of joy and happiness.
Another facet
that is essential to counseling is helping the counselee to recognize that by
holding onto unforgiveness or to sinful habits they are in fact idolizing
sin. We need to illustrate that by
holding onto their sin they are rejecting the sovereignty of God and trying to
be their own masters. Further, they are
looking for satisfaction in that which is not of God. This is why in Galatians chapter five Paul teaches
that “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment