The Importance of Living in God’s Word

Countless lives are in bondage, trapped by the weight and deceit of sin. People flit from thing to thing, trying to find fulfillment and freedom in things that will never give them what they’re looking for. In searching, their lives become bound by lies, confusion, religious tradition, man’s philosophy, psychotherapy, the world’s ideas of what is right and wrong, and the list goes on. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the clutter of all the ideas, philosophies, and attitudes. What is truth? How do we find it? What is the source of truth? These questions, and more, have answers. Absolute truth can be found. But where?

"I am the way, the truth, and the life…" (John 14:6)  These words were spoken by Jesus after one of his disciples point-blank asked him in verse 5, how can we know the way? Verse 6 sums up everything we need to know about where to find truth. Jesus is the truth and the source of truth. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." (John 8:31)  His word is where we find the truth that he teaches. When we go to his word, we will find ultimate truth. "When you find ultimate truth, you will find true freedom. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:32, 36)  Free indeed. What words! What beautiful words. True freedom is found in Christ, who came to save us from the bondage of sin.

"For in Him [in Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him." (Colossians 2:9-10a)  In Christ, we are complete. If you are in Christ, you have a full and complete life. On our own, we are inadequate. We cannot satisfy the longing of our broken, empty hearts by ourselves. We need Christ in every aspect of life. This is the heart and focus of discipleship counseling. Christ and his word as the ultimate source of truth and subsequently true freedom. We do not need to borrow from the philosophies and methods of clinical psychologists throughout history. Their focus on self only further serves our own emptiness. Biblical, discipleship-focused counseling is sourced from God’s word and his word alone.

In Christ and His word, we find truth and freedom. As disciples of Christ, we must be grounded in the word of God. We must live and be guided by Scripture. As counselors, we cannot separate counseling and discipleship; they are one and the same. God’s word is our source for all of life’s problems. As biblical discipleship counselors, we are responsible for directing our counselees to Scripture. These Scripture passages that we have discussed, and numerous others, will be our guiding light as we explore counseling in the light of Scripture. Our lives must always be grounded in and guided by the light of the Bible.

I hope this discussion was enlightening as it's part of the courses I lead at the CCU Biblical Counseling Program. I hope you will reach out to me for further discussion or information. I'm Pastor Jeff at [email protected] and you can text me at (970) 510-0055.