|
Restoring
Relationships
(Back
to Vignettes: Table of Contents)
(Printer Friendly Version)
In all the particular
things we do in the work of Word Based Counseling, the overarching aim
is to establish and restore relationships. For relationship--with the
Father and with each other, through God's Son, Jesus Christ--is the
bottom line for God.
That they may all be
one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also
may be in Us...(John 17:21 NASV).
Most of the people we minister to are
seeking help because their relationships with God or with people are
strained or broken. Either they or those they are close to have fallen
short regarding the two foremost commandments: "You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40
NASV).
For love is the beginning
and the end of relationship. For this reason, Paul says: "And beyond all
these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity"
(Colossians 3:14 NASV).
But instead, people have
been bitten and devoured, even consumed by one another (Galatians 5:15)
because the flesh has taken its opportunity through selfishness.
Our purpose in counseling
is to help people lay aside the old self with its evil practices and,
putting on the new self, to walk in love. Our desire is that through
love, they may serve one another and lay hold of the blessing of true
unity and oneness in their relationships, both with God and man.
|
