When you start out on a journey you are wise to have prepared for the trip. Plan the journey, store up provisions, check out your resources. The interesting fact about the Christian life, however, is that from the moment when you are saved, you are already on a journey that you haven’t been able to prepare for.
Indeed, before you began, you had no idea you would even take the trip.
So, that means you have a lot of catching up to do. What, ideally, you would have done before setting out, you must now do while already on the road. In some ways that makes it harder; in others easier. Either way, it’s the reality that you must deal with.
For one thing, you must realize the implications of Romans 8:8:
“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
To be “in the flesh” is a phrase describing you before you became a Christian. It means that you had nothing better than your own sinful human ways to deal with life. Now, of course, you have God’s Word and the power of the Spirit at Work within to enable you to follow it.
But since, you couldn’t “please God” as an unbeliever, you developed patterns of life in every area that were wrong. That means that you must now examine them to see where they were wrong and what you ought to be doing instead. And you must do this in every area of your life—social, physical, work (or school), family, church, finances, etc.
Now that you have come to Christ, you must begin to develop the proper biblical ways of life in each venue. These must replace the old ways in each instance. To do so will take time, thought, knowledge, and determination. It means you may need counsel or help from your pastor or a mature Christian friend. But, however you obtain the information and encouragement needed, you must get it. Don’t wait to begin. As we saw, you’re already behind in preparing for the fascinating journey ahead.
Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!
Books related to counseling others:
- Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
- The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
- How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
- Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!
The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams
Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.
Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies