Biblical Counseling.pdf - Online Christian Library

2. God's "perfect love" casts out fear, heals personal hurts, replaces wrong anger andchanges rejection to acceptance (I John 4:17-19).3. Hurt and anger often need to be dealt with in counseling. These basic sinfulresponses to situations in life can be broken as habits of reaction. God's method isclearly given in Ephesians 4:22-24. These responses can become strongholds of sinfrom which the counselee can and must be set free (Romans 6: 6-14).4. Emotions are related to thinking. Knowing and acting according to the Word of Godwill enable the individual to overcome explosive and internally prolonged angerwhich may lead to wrath, bitterness, and depression. It is changed thinking that willgreatly help those who have problems with anger, hurt, and bitterness.5. Thinking influences emotions. Emotions are not independent. They have beennursed, expressed, and encouraged to remain by thinking the kind of thoughts thatwill prolong them.B. The Problem of Fears.1. Fear as an emotion manifests itself in many debilitating ways and prevents rationalresponses to life's situations and problems.2. Fear never comes from God (II Timothy 1:7). While there is a wholesome fear thatkeeps us from danger, or accident and a "fear of the Lord" which is good, much fearstems from unbelief and doubt.3. A person can overcome fleshly fear by drawing close to God, remembering Hiscaring nature and His power to keep us (Psalm 27:1, 14). The counselor mustdevelop a faith walk and be able to teach the counselee how to walk by faith and insweet submission. The living words of the Bible are given to enable us to over thefeelings of fear and dread (Isaiah 41:10; 40:28-31).C. The Emotion of Rejection.1. Rejection is a common emotional response seen in the lives of many with whom wemay counsel.2. A feeling of rejection often includes loneliness, self-pity, rebellion, depression andeven suicide.3. Everyone experiences rejection at sometime in life and to some degree. It may bereal or just perceived.4. Those who have a pattern of rejection may respond in one of the following ways--try to gain acceptance through performance, retreat from others to prevent furtherrejection, or they may become very hard and indifferent.5. God's remedy for rejection is truth. The truth of His love, our position in Christ, andall that we have in Him should set the person free from the feelings of rejection, IFthose things are accepted and applied to his life. (See Ephesians 1:1-12;I Corinthians 6: 9-11.)6. Only Divine Love can heal the deep wounds of rejection.©2000, Revival in the Home Ministries 30