Typically people come to counseling looking primarily for behavioral change. The counselor also would like to see behavioral change in those he/she serves.
Though a counselee and counselor’s goals may be similar, our methods for reaching those goals typically differ. Rarely does a counselee initially see the importance of working at a deeper level than the surface where change is seen.
All too often, the desire of the counselee is to experience change in their situation because the “heat” they are going through seems unbearable. For some counselees, fixing a problem externally is all they care about.
From a Christian counselor’s perspective, we know that problems in the “fruit” of someone’s life (outward behavior) have their genesis in the roots (inner desires and motives) of their life. And if the root (core) problems are not addressed, the chances of the fruit reproducing in the future are assured (see Matthew 7:16-20; Luke 6:43-54).
Christian counselors are not opposed to encouraging people to make behavioral changes. For example, in Ephesians 4:25-32 Paul teaches about certain behavioral changes that need to take place. Here is a sampling:
- Stop lying and start speaking the truth
- Do not be sinfully angry and thus give place to the devil
- Don’t steal; instead, get a job and share with those in need
- Don’t use your mouth for evil but for good
- Don’t be unkind or bitter; rather, be loving and forgiving
At the same time, character transformation is not as easy as telling someone to stop a bad behavior and start a good one! I think Paul agrees. If we take this Ephesians passage in context, which begins at 4:17, we discover that Paul pours a theological foundation long before he addresses the behavioral changes that need to take place.
In other words, before Paul launches into how we should behave, he lays a solid theological framework that is grounded in the gospel.
Read also Behavioral Change is Artificial and Unsustainable
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