Do you believe that? No, thanks to the law of gravity, I came down so hard the impact broke one of my teeth.

Wouldn’t it be difficult if gravity worked only part of the time? Imagine walking in your neighborhood and never knowing for sure whether you would fly up or come down. Fortunately we can depend on the law of gravity. And though you can’t touch it or see it, if you jump out of a window, you will feel it.

You would not say, “I don’t believe germs exist,” just because you can’t see them. When you are sick, you experience the effects of germs. Even though you can’t see them, you do not deny that they exist.

These invisible powers are explained through science according to predictable laws. There are also biblical laws that affect our interactions.

I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (Romans 7:18-25)

There is a tiny word tucked into these verses that you seldom hear these days. The word is … “sin.” These verses define the term “sin” to mean the breaking of God’s law. An equally important concept to understand is the “law of sin.” It is one of the most important of all laws to understand because it will determine your future conduct.

A knowledge of sin and what to do about it is the most important information in the world, and the Bible is the source of that information. Almost all the people who talk to me about themselves have little or no knowledge about the Bible. It follows that they also have little or no knowledge about sin.

I have heard hundreds of stories from people who begin by saying, “I have everything I always wanted and I’m doing everything right!” But the same gnawing emptiness and repetitive questions remain: Why am I restless? Why am I disturbed? Why am I worried? Why am I nervous? Why am I tense? Why am I unhappy? Why do I hurt? Why am I under stress? Why am I uncomfortable?

I am convinced that all of us sincerely want to overlook other people’s faults and be easygoing, loving, generous, cooperative, and sacrificial individuals. But something holds us back. Could it be this law of sin? Paul seems to say yes:  “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:19-20).

It is usually the unexpected circumstances that give you an unexpected glimpse of yourself. Joe considered himself to be an easygoing, friendly person. He liked his work and got along well with his associates. Then his boss got transferred. The new boss rearranged Joe’s workplace, changed his secretary, and gave him some new duties that he didn’t like. Joe changed from being a cheerful, cooperative person to a disgruntled, rebellious employee. He hated the new boss. His inner response to the new superior resulted in behavior that missed his own personal standard of conduct.

This is the law of sin at work. It suggests a conflict between the desire to do good and the inability to do it. The Bible sums up this condition very simply: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Perhaps you have been present with someone who has eaten too much and is confronted by a luscious dessert. With fork in hand he declares, “I shouldn’t eat this.” Then he deliberately proceeds to do what he just declared he shouldn’t do—eat the dessert.

Another Bible verse describes this type of struggle: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).

The Bible pinpointed the trouble long ago:  “We have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Each person likes his own ideas, plans, aspirations, and longings. Thus when you encounter resistance to your wishes, or face demands that are not to your liking, the tendency is to rebel, attack, run, or defend yourself. The natural reaction is to be resentful, bitter, stubborn or full of fight. It is easy for you to think that your desires are the reasonable ones. A person will find a way to make a selfish drive seem selfless, deceiving even himself.

Furthermore, it is natural to shrink away from an honest glimpse of yourself. To back off from reproof is as human as shielding the eyes from a burst of light in a dark room. The Bible’s assessment that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9) and that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19) is as up-to-date as the literature on psychology that describes the mental mechanisms for evading the truth.

The patterns of deceit and self-defense are so systematized that their names are common dictionary words: rationalization, regression, suppression, repression, extroversion, introversion, compartmental thinking, and projection. To peer further into the darkness, such avenues can lead to psychoses requiring hospitalization—or to broken homes, crime, vice, or even murder or suicide.

But as already mentioned, there is hope! Since we are looking to the Bible as our guide, we can turn to it not only for a description of man as he naturally is, but for the path to peace from our disturbances, neuroses, and psychoses. Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

Many people turn to a counselor for help because they are in circumstances that offend them or have caused them to stumble. They are dissatisfied, irritated and unhappy. Either they flee from the vexing situation or attack it. One would think that people would rush to buy a book that pointed out the path to peace and the way from offense to freedom. People do buy it—millions of copies every year. The Bible continues to be the all-time bestseller. But it is a book that most people quickly lay aside because it reproves and corrects. Man simply does not like the truth that he discovers about himself in the Bible.

The “law” of sin exposes our inability to do right. As we study the Bible we can be assured that God will help us to confess our sin, will forgive us of it, and will help us to live a new life of freedom in Him.

This town was surrounded by beautiful, rolling hills and lush, productive farmland. The air was fresh and clean. There was lots of sky, and we enjoyed glowing sunrises, spectacular sunsets, and beautiful moonlit nights. There were prosperous farmers who lived in large, lovely homes with all the conveniences anyone could ask for. They looked out of their picture windows at their oil wells pumping black gold 24 hours a day. Everyone had several big cars in their driveways and we ate sumptuous meals. The people were elegantly dressed. The church was beautifully furnished.

You would think if there were any place in the world where people would be content and satisfied, it would be in this town. No doubt these people could teach me a thing or two about mental health.

To my surprise, I was swamped by people who requested counseling. There were many troubled hearts in those beautiful homes. People were lonely, worried, disillusioned, and fearful. Many of them tossed and turned in their comfortable beds and often wet their soft pillows with bitter tears. Human nature is the same wherever you go, and sad to say, luxury and plenty do not quiet the human heart. These people pleaded for me to tell them what to buy, or eat, or drink, or where to go, or what to do to find some relief for their tense, anxious bodies.

Christina was from one of those lovely homes. She drove to my office in a fine luxury car. She was beautiful. The skillful use of cosmetics gave just the right touch to her complexion and eyes. Every hair was in place. A carefully chosen dress complemented her body. She was married to a handsome, hard-working husband. They lived in a roomy, nicely furnished house. They had one child and planned to have at least two more.

She had the same questions that I have heard repeated hundreds of times since. Christina wondered, “I have everything I ever wanted. Why do I hurt? Why can’t I relax?”

She had consulted a physician because she was experiencing occasional pain in the chest area and she struggled with a shortness of breath. After looking at the test results, her physician gingerly asked if she might be having any personal or family problems. He suggested that she consult a psychiatrist. She felt insulted, so she indignantly proceeded to get a second opinion. It was the same as the first.

As this story tumbled out, it was easy to see that she was a tense, stressful young lady. She couldn’t imagine why she needed a counselor. She had a good life and a good marriage. Why, then, did she have chest pains and shortness of breath?

I urged her to go home and think about the possible causes of her symptoms. Was there anything in her life that made her feel angry, resentful, bitter, or rebellious? She told me immediately that she had no such problems and promptly left.

Christina called me the next morning. “Could I come in?” she asked. “The sooner the better.” She was ready for some help.

Apparently that night, after she had talked with me, she and her husband watched a football game with another couple. During the game, her husband yelled at the referee and argued loudly with his friend several times. Christina didn’t say anything, but by the time the game was over she was disgusted and embarrassed. Her husband sensed something was wrong, but she simply told him she was tired.

Christina told me that she discovered soon after her marriage that her handsome, hard-working, fun-loving husband was also gruff, rude, and demanding. When he wanted to speak to her he would do so from wherever he was–even if he was upstairs in the bathroom and she was downstairs in the kitchen. He would shout loudly enough to be heard and expected her to reply immediately. If she didn’t, he would come storming to her and give her an angry tongue-lashing for not listening to him. If he was watching a ball game on TV, he would cheer or boo or yell at the umpire as loudly as the people in the crowd at the stadium. During the evening news, he would react loudly and give his opinions as though he were addressing an audience. Yet when there were guests in the house he would speak in a conversational tone, so Christina’s friends had no idea what she endured.

She discovered that this was a family pattern. They were a loud bunch who turned down the volume when company came. While Christina and her husband were courting, she was company. Now that they were married, she was family.

Christina was a soft-spoken person. She was accustomed to conversational-level talk. No one ever shouted in her family, especially from one room to another. Any effort on her part to get him to see her side of the issue was just brushed aside. After several tries failed to get him to at least discuss the problem, she gave up and never brought it up again.

I reminded Christina about the words I asked her to think about the day before. We ended up agreeing that she deeply resented her husband’s behavior and his total disregard for her style of communicating. Outwardly she was friendly, but last night she almost lost control. “He has no idea how I feel and couldn’t care less,” she said bitterly and burst into uncontrollable weeping. After she quieted down she said she felt as if a heavy load had been removed from her shoulders.

Finally she was able to admit to herself that her response to her husband was a miserable concoction of resentment, anger, hatred, and rebellion. She was simply covering it all over with behavior that made her look perfectly happy.

Here was a beautiful, perfectly groomed lady. She drove one of the finest luxury cars on the market. She lived in a spacious home that she helped to design and furnish. Her husband was a leader in the church. But she was hurting with chest pains and had trouble breathing. She did not want to acknowledge her own feelings of resentment and rebellion. She could not enjoy life because of a tiny word that has been banished from most people’s vocabulary: “sin.”

Let’s take a look at two Bible verses that give us instruction on how to deal with our anger:

“Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (Ephesians 4:31)

To come to the decision that will lead you into the pleasant valley of peace is to struggle with your own will. Let me illustrate this by noting the experience of Jerry.

Jerry was a department foreman at a manufacturing firm. One day his boss called him into the office and said, “Jerry, as you know, things are a bit slow around here these days. I realize you have worked hard and run one of the best departments in the company. But my orders are to cut one supervisor, so I am letting you go.”

Jerry was stunned. He was the only Christian among the foremen. The other supervisory personnel, including his boss, liked to go out drinking and had some wild parties together. As a result, their work sometimes suffered and Jerry had to step in to rescue them. He had worked hard and now this was his reward.

Jerry soon faced a financial slump. He had been making payments on a new home and a car but when his salary was suddenly cut off, he was in trouble. He lost both the house and the car and had to move in with his parents. While with them, he had nothing to do but sit in a comfortable chair and mull over his experience.

“So this is the reward for hard work and clean living,” he said to himself over and over. The more he thought, the more bitter he became. He found it hard to eat and harder to digest what little he did eat. He suffered from painful cramps. His physician told him that his condition stemmed from his emotions. But most of his friends reassured him that he had a right to have some emotional problems.

Twelve years later, time seemed to have healed the wound. Jerry found another job and was quite successful in it. He was, in fact, the general manager of a manufacturing outfit with eight plants. One day, while he was inspecting one of the plants, the personnel director asked him if he would like to meet the plant’s new chief engineer. Of course he would, and did. Jerry found himself face-to-face with the man who fired him 12 years before. Here working for him was the person who had caused him so much grief, pain, and embarrassment.

“I sure made a terrible mistake back then,” the engineer said to Jerry when they were alone. “Will you forgive me?”

“Oh, certainly. Forget it,” Jerry replied.

Jerry told the man that he would forgive, but within himself he nursed a gnawing bitterness. His stomach problem returned and he began reliving those confusing, painful days of long ago. He had thought this period of his life was long forgotten, but now he found himself fuming in his plush office, wanting only to get even.

One day, he related the experience to me, then asked how one could work with a person who had treated him as this man had.

What would have been your reply?

I pointed out several Scripture passages to Jerry. One describes the work of the Holy Spirit:

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-11)

The apostle Paul spoke here of trouble, perplexity, persecution, and rejection. All these had happened to him. But Paul also said there is a power that will enable a man to face such treatment without distress, despair, self-pity, or ruin. It is the power of God. I discussed this with Jerry, but at the time it seemed to mean little to him. I then spoke of the end products of distress, pointing out that definite bodily changes are involved. “Your blood pressure, respiration, and digestion can be affected,” I said.

“Are you suggesting that I am my own problem? Would you have acted differently had you taken what I took?” he asked.

I reminded Jerry of one of Jesus’ statements:

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

Jerry became furious with me. How could I be so lacking in sympathy and understanding? Now he was upset not only at the engineer, but at me as well.

Who was Jerry hurting when he carried his grudge around within himself? Who was affected when he sat in his chair and seethed over a man who wasn’t even in his presence? Himself, of course. Jerry argued that he had a right to be bitter. I agreed he did and I would agree with anyone who stands on his right to be angry and unforgiving over a wrong done to him. It is your privilege to be upset and miserable. But as long as you remain angry, you will be miserable.

There is a power that will enable you to face your circumstances without distress. It is the power of God, made available to you through the dying of the Lord Jesus. God’s power and His alone can make you want to forgive a person who has misused you. But Jerry did not want to forgive that engineer; he wanted to get even.

For many people, yielding bitterness and hatred in exchange for a tender heart toward someone who doesn’t deserve it would not be a blessed relief but rather a great sacrifice. Like Jerry, untold numbers of people would like to be free from their aches and pains. But if you say that means they must relinquish a long-standing grudge, they say they would rather ache.

There in Jerry’s nice walnut-paneled, softly lit office we were locked in a struggle. If I had told him that his grudge was normal and that I probably would have acted the same way, he might have enjoyed some relief, but the inner sore would have continued to fester and spread its poison.

The only solution is for a person to quit fighting and turn to God for a spirit of love toward someone who does not deserve it. And when you yield, the problem is nearly over. The Bible says it is your move: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

One day, Jerry finally did turn to God for help with his bitterness and hatred. His digestive disorder disappeared and his aches and pains went away. He was at peace with himself and with the man he felt had treated him unfairly. Jerry was able to enjoy God’s peace in his life.

How did this change come about? By confessing or acknowledging that he had done wrong–that he had sinned. David wrote this about his sin: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).

When Jerry paid attention to and took care of his own reaction to the other man’s sins instead of concerning himself with what the other man had done, he found himself on the road to peace.

To acknowledge your own sin is disturbing only if you fight what you discover. If, instead, you admit it and seek help from God, the result is not guilt but an overwhelming sense of forgiveness, cleansing, renewal, and peace.

Unfortunately, the word “sin” has almost completely disappeared from our vocabulary. One of the reasons is that we rely on the medical profession to prescribe mood-altering drugs that provide patients with a temporary escape from pain, anxiety, boredom, and remorse. While these can often be helpful, they can also enable us to put off dealing with the real issues in our lives.

People steadfastly resist the diagnosis of personal sin. It is much easier to accept that our symptoms have some underlying pathology. There is no reason to turn to God; what we are experiencing is a human problem caused by social interaction and it must be solved on a human level with the help of trained human beings. This is the approach taken by most government, education, medical, and psychological professionals, and by a rapidly growing number of church-related personnel.

The pathway to spiritual peace is a struggle. Discover the truth about yourself and you will naturally shrink from it; become offended and defensive and you will be bound in the strong fetters of your sin. What a difference you will find if you just heed the promise of Jesus: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Why did Jesus come to live among the people, die on a cross, and rise again? Matthew 1:21 gives us the answer: “… because he will save his people from their sins.”

Identify the sin in your life, ask God to forgive you of it, and experience His peace!

I shared this information with the restless, nervous people who crossed my path. As we talked, many of these people could see that some of these sins were present in their lives. They repented of their sins and their restless, nervous symptoms disappeared.

This happened often enough that I decided to focus my college and graduate studies on a Biblical approach to human behavior.

In my sociology and psychology classes, I learned that the same words the Bible uses to describe sin were used to describe personality or emotional disorders. In those days we frequently heard the term “nervous breakdown.” People who had nervous breakdowns would be quickly hospitalized. The patient was “sick” and required a psychiatrist who could prescribe medication and use a specialized form of treatment called therapy. The patient was struggling with what was called a “neurosis” (an emotional disorder with physical complaints without objective evidence of disease).

Ten years later, I hung out my first Christian counseling sign. A letter sent to a group of pastors announcing my availability resulted in a full schedule within a few months and a pattern emerged rather quickly. Many people were coming to find a cure for an anxiety state that was intolerable.

In the background these people would be struggling with a marriage problem, parent/child relations, difficulty socializing, or conflict at work. The responses to these problems were predictable: anger, resentment, fear, bitterness, rebellion, griping, yelling, dishonesty, lust, jealousy, sex, or stealing. The attempt to contain such emotions and desires caused these people to become highly excitable, unnaturally apprehensive, and/or very restless.

Curiously, these people had also acquired a new vocabulary. Ten years earlier it was not difficult for them to talk about sin and see their problems as such. Now my counselees would leave my office greatly relieved only as long as we focused on their circumstances past and present. They wanted to focus on what caused their emotional reactions, and not deal with the emotional reactions themselves.

My teachers in graduate school taught that a personality disorder is not a person’s own fault. The Freudian hypothesis is that neurosis stems from a too-severe handling at the hands of harsh, unloving parents and an irrational society. The individual has done nothing “sinful,” but rather is forced to repress what he wants to do. Thus he is sick, not sinful–the innocent victim of “the demands of the fathers.” Rogers, another leading psychologist, insists that we are inherently good and yet are corrupted by our experiences with the external everyday world.

Already years ago, these psychological explanations for personal unrest filtered down to the churches, and when I started professionally counseling, I was faced with the incredible fact that dealing with sin was totally ruled out in the psychological world and was rapidly disappearing in the church as well.

The emphasis among Christians was slowly changing from dealing with sins to coming to terms with past experiences. These people expected sympathy and acceptance while others around them lovingly helped them to recover from their sicknesses.

Many of these counselees required many months of “therapy” in order to get control of themselves. They would be taught to become aware of the people or circumstances that triggered their negative emotions or behavior patterns. They learned to interrupt a line of conversation when they sensed they were becoming “disturbed” and to avoid certain people or circumstances. One man was told that when he felt his jaws tighten he must interrupt whomever he was talking to. He would change the subject, leave the room, walk around the block, or go for a ride.

I became a partner with these counselees. They could share their failures with me and I was there to give them a warm, sympathetic welcome. After months of therapy we were not far from where we started. I guess therapy simply takes a long time, I told myself. All went well as long as the counselee could set the pace and determine the content of our conversations.

All too frequently, I encountered stiff resistance when I proposed that we take a look into the Bible to see what it had to say about emotions and behavior patterns. My dilemma was that my clients’ emotional problems were often coupled with a headache or abdominal pain. I felt the pressure of trying to decide if they should be sent to see a physician. On the other hand, some contacted me at the recommendation of a physician.

The prevailing psychological opinion these days is that we can get the sinner to love himself by loving him and accepting him. This flows from the Freudian assumption that the patient is not really guilty or sinful but only fancies himself so, and from Rogers’ view, that we are inherently good and are corrupted by our experiences with the external, everyday world.

I became a Christian because I understood that Jesus died to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21) and I unquestionably needed to be saved from my sins. Isn’t this the issue that separates Christianity from secular humanism? The Person of Christ died for our sins and was raised to life again so that we could be victorious over sin!

I found that as long as someone remained, in old-fashioned religious phraseology, “hard-of-heart and unrepentant,” that person’s conscience would hold him in the viselike grip of “neurotic” rigidity and suffering. But the moment he (with or without assistance) began to accept his guilt and his sinfulness, the possibility of radical reformation opened up, and with this, the individual would begin the journey, though not without pain and effort, from deep, pervasive self-rejection and self-torture to a new freedom of self-respect and peace.

Tragically, many Christians turn to therapy (humanism) for relief from a sinful heart instead of turning to God for a cure. I listened to many counselees tell me their troubles. Most of them chose not to acknowledge, let alone seek, forgiveness of their sins. They chose to simply live with their sins.

I had to make a choice. Go with the flow, or go with the few who would seek repentance and forgiveness of their sins. After a little reflection, I made the decision that I would make the diagnosis of sin my primary goal in helping people. Sin (resentment, anger, hatred, rebellion) had nearly destroyed my own life and marriage. If I understood the Bible correctly, the “emotional problems” that plagued my counselees were sin.

Here are some of the Bible verses that guided me in those early days:

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (Psalm 32:1)

The bad news is, there is no human remedy for sin.

The good news is, repentance for sin before God brings instant cleansing.

To declare that man has sinned–that is, to say he is out of line with God’s standard–is not to condemn him. The Bible gives us the key to freedom from the severe ego insult (condemnation) that is the result of seeing one’s sinfulness. Sin is the simplest problem in the world to solve! The resources of God, the Creator of the universe, are available to anyone who asks–on God’s terms. A variety of Bible verses give some guidance:

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:5)

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

I spoke with a man who wished that he had love, joy, and peace in his home. While the man had great wealth, he realized that he could not find a doctor, counselor, or a retail store where he could buy love, joy, and peace. He admitted that everything he had tried in this world–money, fame, and power–had not brought happiness. These virtues are not available “over the counter.” Qualities such as love, joy, and peace are only available as a result of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a shame that many people in our world today will not accept this fact.

The Bible says these virtues are from a source out of this world. God controls an infinite supply. They will flow through the person who is cleansed from sin as his body is yielded to the Spirit of God. The result is access to a supernatural resource that a person can draw upon.

Drawing upon God can be compared to drawing water. When you open a faucet, water flows out. Water is made up of two parts: hydrogen, a gas; and oxygen, also a gas. These invisible units combine miraculously into a product called water. A glassful will quench your thirst. You can fill a tub and take a bath in it. You can irrigate a thousand-acre farm with it.

You can use all you want because you are drawing from a reservoir of water. All you need to do is to keep the pipes in good repair, and open the faucet. The water will flow. Amazingly, you can stop the flow of a massive reservoir of water by simply closing the faucet.

In similar fashion, when you allow Jesus to come into your body as your Savior, not only are you cleansed from your sin, but you also have access to the Spirit of God. Here is an invisible, unexplainable presence that produces visible, measurable changes in the way your body works. Your body is transformed.

Nothing in this world can cause a person to change so radically. No longer do circumstances or people determine the condition under your skin. You can now respond to the troublesome people in your life with unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Humanly speaking, this is an impossibility. But, by yielding yourself to the Spirit of God, an infinite, endless supply flows through you. There is enough for a minor irritation or a major tragedy.

Medical researchers have expressed the opinion that destructive emotions are caused by a chemical imbalance in the body. But I ask the question, is it possible that a chemical imbalance in the body can be caused by destructive emotions? It seems obvious to me that since sin is so easily cleansed, the presence of sin should be explored first.

A pastor questioned me about this issue. Someone in his congregation had suffered from severe anxiety attacks. His physician prescribed a drug that corrected the problem. After three years of treatment, it was clear that the patient was fine as long as he took his pills. Was I implying that the cause of these attacks was sin? I asked him, “Shouldn’t everyone be open to the possibility of sin in their lives?”

Later that day I was chatting with several people. A man interrupted our conversation. He wanted to talk to me immediately. He seemed disturbed, and paced the floor while he waited.

When we were finally able to talk, he wanted to know if I thought that anxiety was caused by sin. I replied that we can be both sick and sinful at the same time. I told him that if he cared to make an appointment, I would be pleased to talk with him more. We set a time and he left in a huff. When we met again I reviewed his reason for wanting to see me. He said he was on medication for stress and that it solved his problem. I then asked why he wanted to see me. He seemed abrupt and annoyed, and then it dawned on me. This was the man that the pastor asked about–the one who had been under treatment for three years.

I asked if he wanted to explore his spiritual life. Yes, he did.

I asked if there were any tensions in his marriage, family, church, or at his children’s school. His answer each time was a testy “no” almost before I finished the question. I remarked that he couldn’t possibly have given any thought to my questions. He admitted that was true, so I chided him for brushing off my questions. He left, again in a huff.

The next time we met, he seemed lighthearted and radiant. He decided I had been right. He had been nursing some nasty grudges in his heart, but now he had given them up. His wife wondered what happened; she hadn’t seen him so cheerful in a longtime. Clearly, his response to the people he held grudges against–bitterness, resentfulness, anger–was sinful, and repentance brought immediate relief. Whether or not he was also sick was a matter for his physician to determine.

Repentant people are free–cleansed, renewed, restored. Repentance restores your reason (conscience) and fellowship (with the Lord). Restoration brings wholeness to your being and to your relationships with others. Take time to evaluate your life. Is there a sin you need to confess to God and be free of? God is waiting to help you experience His freedom!

Many people are confused and mixed up. The Bible is the only true mirror that can help a person unscramble their mixed-up thinking. However, the Bible is a difficult book to face for the person who is on the defensive. And so the real question is: Does this person want to change?

People in a state of confusion need hope–the hope of God! Romans 15:13 tells us, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It’s God that fills hearts with hope!

Many times individuals will focus on whatever difficulty is in front of them. It is important to direct them to the root problem:  an issue between themselves and God. The person you’re counseling needs to admit they’re wrong. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. We can all make excuses for not walking in the Spirit–our past, our childhood, how people have treated us. But the true issue is: What does the Bible say? This is what you, as a counselor, must point out to those you counsel. Challenge the people you interact with to walk moment by moment with the Lord, and to be sensitive to the fact that the Lord will, in His faithfulness, cast light on their path.

Take a step . . .

Memorize Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Ask God to help you to apply His Word wisely as you counsel others.
Read Hebrews 4:12, Romans 5:13, James 3:14 and  1 John 1:7.

This summary is from Dr. Brandt’s message, The Use of the Bible in Counseling.

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My answer is, “I have no idea.”

I believe that you make a great mistake by aspiring to make a counseling interview pleasant. Instead you should want to make it to the point; you should want to get to the bottom of the problem. This is a great big world with many needs, and we can’t be going around and around and around the same question over and over and over again.

It is my firm conviction that if you will sincerely put your faith in the word of God and honestly seek to listen to the individual who is talking to you, with the backdrop of your knowledge of the scripture behind you, you can move pretty fast in helping people.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

To be effective in counseling, master the Word, not just in your head, but in your heart. The psalmist says in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee,” and in verse 105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.” Having the Word of God firmly rooted in your heart and mind, you will be prepared to listen to a person’s story, and then help them to discern their thoughts and intents using the Word to mirror what they’re saying to you.

You need to have enough of the scripture in your head so that as you listen to each individual’s story, you are able to start sorting out what they are telling you, applying your knowledge of the scriptures to each situation. Not according to your knowledge of what a certain psychologist has said, or what a well-known sociologist has said, or what a distinguished anthropologist has said, but what the Word says. It is important to remember that if you’re going be an effective counselor using the Bible, it’s not enough to simply own a Bible or even be somewhat familiar with it. You must use it, and know enough of it that you can immediately apply it.

According to 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

This Bible is profitable to use for doctrine, for teaching people that there are certain truths to believe in and live life by. The Word of God is profitable for reproof. As a Bible counselor, you need to help people find out what God’s Word has to say about where they made a wrong turn. The Bible is profitable for correction. Use it to give the people you counsel a plan for change in their lives. It is also profitable for instruction in righteousness. There is a right way to live!

Using the Bible, help people to diagnose their sin. You have the unique privilege of pointing them Jesus! He can forgive them and help them to live a life of victory.

Take a step . . .

Begin today to memorize God’s Word. Choose one passage from the Old Testament and one passage from the New Testament to commit to memory this week. Continue to add to your collection of memorized verses over time.

This summary is from Dr. Brandt’s message, The Use of the Bible in Counseling.

Want more? Click here…

Find life-changing insights arranged topically by need

Listen to dynamic audio messages by Dr. Brandt

Experience freedom and healing from sin problems