By Mary Brantley Meade
We love this question because we are passionate about knowing and loving people well, using the story of Scripture in personal and meaningful ways.
We seek to know, understand, and love the person we counsel.
When someone comes to us for counseling, it is usually because they are experiencing some level of suffering. Something hurts. Our desire is to know the person that sits before us well. We are not God, but we can seek to emulate his intimate care of his people by listening well. Biblical counselors are personal.
We want to understand the ways the person is suffering and show compassion. We want to identify the ways the person exhibits the fruit of the spirit and praise God. We want to lovingly point out the ways the person is living in unbelief and point them towards repentance and sanctification.
Biblical counseling is not one size fits all. The way that we counsel will be informed by our knowledge of the person. You can expect that if you come to Connection Point, your first session will be an opportunity for us to get to know you. We invite you to share openly and thoroughly about your hurts before we respond with counsel.
We Use the Bible.
First and foremost, the Word of God is our foundation whenever we meet with a person. The Bible tells us who God is, who we are, and how we are to live in light of these things. We believe the Bible is a powerful and relevant tool given by God. We seek to match your story with the story of the Bible in ways that encourage you and challenge you. It may not happen that first session, but you can expect that our biblical counselors will open the Bible with you throughout the counseling relationship.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
We Depend on the Holy Spirit and Prayer
When you begin meeting with a biblical counselor, you will have been intentionally prayed for by your counselor, before and after your sessions. Not only this, but a biblical counselor personally pleads for the Holy Spirit to be present and active in the counseling room.
We depend on the Holy Spirit to enliven the words of the Bible, to give us eyes to see ourselves as we truly are, to bring conviction and repentance, and ultimately to bring salvation to those who do not know Christ as their Savior.
We Aim For the Heart
Biblical counselors know that the problem is often not what it appears to be. Our job is to work with you in light of a biblical worldview to unearth the true root of the problem. Our job is not merely to give coping skills for anxiety or anger. We want to get to the root of why you experience anxiety and anger in the first place and go from there.
“The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out” (Proverbs 20:5).
We want you to leave looking more like Jesus.
Our goal as biblical counselors is to point you towards knowing your Savior more and being increasingly transformed into his likeness. We also want to encourage you to be a part of a local church. Connection Point is not the church, but we do seek to support your church and your pastor as they seek to care for you. We prioritize this partnership and even offer a discount to those who allow us to partner with their church leadership.
We wholeheartedly agree with this definition of biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counseling (ABC):
“Biblical counseling occurs whenever and wherever God’s people engage in conversations that are anchored in Scripture, centered on Christ and the Gospel, grounded in sound theology, dependent upon the Holy Spirit and prayer, directed toward sanctification, rooted in the life of the church, founded in love, attentive to heart issues, comprehensive in understanding, thorough in care, practical and relevant, and oriented toward outreach.”- ABC, Statement of Faith
If this type of counseling sounds like something you would like to pursue, please do not hesitate to reach out and make an appointment with one of our trained biblical counselors.
If you are a pastor or leader in your church, please reach out also to find out how we can partner with you in your counseling ministry.