Counseling doesn’t just inhabit clinical settings, nor is
it the property of several upstart professions practicing
in the wealthier countries. God’s view of counseling
cuts deeper, applies wider, aims different, lasts longer,
matters more. You live or die based on the counsel you
listen to—and the counsel you give. Counseling is not
just for those who “need counseling.” It’s not just something
that “professional counselors” do with “counselees.”
You can’t escape being involved in the Bible’s
view of the counseling process. It’s happening all the
time, whether you know it or not, whether you want it
or not. You are doing it to others; others are doing it to
you—today, every day, informally, and (very occasionally)
formally. – David Powlison
