LifeSource Marriage & Family Care

We use the term "biblical discipleship counseling" for several reasons.  First, it emphasizes the fact that we are a pastoral counseling ministry that offers biblically-based direction. We are not state-licensed social workers or counselors operating under a secular counseling model, nor are we interested in or competent to prescribe medication. 

Instead, LifeSource Marriage and Family Care offers a biblical counseling approach that emphasizes grace, the exchanged life, and the character of God. We guide people as they seek to apply biblical principles to their personal and spiritual problems. We do not offer an integration of the Bible and secular counseling, nor do we apply a Christian veneer over humanistic principles. Instead, our counseling uses the Bible as the therapeutic tool and reference point for addressing personal needs, relational problems, and behavioral change. Inherent in this approach is the idea that the Bible is true, authoritative, and sufficient. That is to say that what the Bible says is true is, in fact, true and relevant to mankind in all societies and cultures. Further, the Bible is authoritative in that it is the actual word of God. So, its commands, principles, and message are not merely wise sayings, but the actual words of the God who made the universe in general, and us in particular. Because God made us, He knows best how we should live. Finally, Scripture is sufficient in that mixing secular counseling trends with a biblical approach weakens rather than strengthens the biblical model. 

Unlike secular counseling, which is directed towards achieving personal happiness, biblical counseling focuses upon growing in holiness. Sometimes what God says is best may conflict with what we think would make us happiest. In these cases, biblical counseling steers people towards God's call over their happiness. Though this may sound harsh, it is based on the reality that God truly knows and will bring about what is best for us in the long term. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He sees our lives from an eternal perspective. He has both greater insight into, and a deeper desire for, our well-being than we ourselves do.

In short, then, biblical counseling is the process of learning, believing, following, and benefiting from God's insight into our personal and relational problems. Ultimately, Biblical counseling is simply a matter of discipleship.