There are many reasons people seek therapy, including feeling stuck, not feeling good, being unhappy, loss of a relationship or loved one, etc. I contend that the majority of the multitude of reasons people seek out the services of a professional counselor can be categorized into three broad areas: relationship problems, depression, and anxiety. Isn’t it interesting that the first 3 fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 are the direct opposite, or positive opposite, of these negative presenting issues? Love, Joy, and Peace. I don’t know about you, but I find that fascinating. Maybe there really is something to the Bible holding the answers for the problems in our lives.
Now, I have enough education, training, and experience to also be able to say that these problems are not just spiritual, and there are many psychological or physiological explanations to the things we experience in life. There are psychological features to anxiety and depression. There are physiological explanations for anxiety and depression as well. And as for the relationship problems, well, there are personality features and life experiences that shape who we are and create a prism through which we interpret the events and conversations in our lives. Understanding our backgrounds can explain why we have relationship difficulties. These explanations that are other than spiritual do not bother me, because they are all truth. And all truth is God’s truth. These other explanations also do not negate the spiritual reality that exists within them. You see, fundamentally, all of the things that we struggle with in this life are a result of being fallen people living in a fallen world and are therefore, spiritual in essence. The human mind with all of its psychology, the human body with all of its physiology, and our complicated life experiences are fundamentally spiritual – they were all created by God – and that’s a pretty spiritual thing, don’t you think?
So, please allow me to encourage you that these issues can be overcome. It’s God’s desire that you overcome them. These issues represent a destruction of Love, Joy, and Peace in our lives. This is not what God desires. He wants us all to experience love at its deepest level – John 3:16 says that God loves us so much that he gave his only Son to die for us – that’s incredible love and He wants us to experience it. Scripture says over and over again that He wants to make our joy complete. Jesus said in John 14:27 “my peace I give you”. The first three fruits of the Spirit are Love, Joy, and Peace. Notice that these are the fruits of the Spirit of God – not the fruits of you working hard at developing coping mechanisms are strategies to deal with circumstances. You see, ultimately, this is all spiritual. If you deny this aspect of what you’re struggling with, you will never know complete healing. The best way to overcome these issues is to fully understand them from a psychological perspective, physiological perspective, from the perspective of your background and life experiences, and from a spiritual perspective. When you attack these issues from all angles, you will surround it (whatever it is) and it will surrender and you will find Love, Joy, and Peace.
If you are having challenges in these areas, please schedule an appointment with one of our counselors today. We would be thrilled to walk with you through these struggles, help you understand and make sense of them, and walk more in step with God in your life and experience the Love, Joy, and Peace that God desires for you.-Jeff Faulkner