True Empowerment in Christian Counselling

If a million dollars will save you and make you a better person, then The Lord would happily hand it to you without blinking. Of course, we all know that a huge amount of money (or a good piece of advice) will not automatically change us for good.

In fact, money is known to bring out the opposite from man. Hence, my standard attitude to blessings is that: if The Lord knows you are not ready for them, then He will delay its manifestations until you are made ready. Truly, there is nothing worse than receiving premature blessings. Handing a million dollars to a person who is not ready for it will utterly destroy the person. It is no different from handing your 5 year old child the keys to your car. Meeting the love of your life when you are both 30 years old will have a way different ending than meeting each other when you guys are 13. I can go on and on with this, but I’m sure you see the point.

As long as you are a child, you are no different from a slave.
Galatians 4:1

The Lord wants to change us inside out, and this is the model of Christian Counselling. Because if the change comes from within (not handed externally), then nothing can take it away from you. The million dollars you got or the boy friend you just met will change once circumstances change. That is not empowerment. If the change is within you then you take ownership of it. This power goes with you wherever you may be.

In every healing miracle, Jesus made sure that the people receives the lessons first.

The Lord Jesus always talked about this change within us and He sends ultimate help by calling forth The Holy Spirit who will teach us what we need to know for every moment. He wants us developing and maturing in Him and not to be reliant on external circumstances.

So, don’t expect Him to let you win the lottery, for example. But you can always count on Him to give you the wisdom to gain wealth (Deut 8:18). Don’t expect the man of your dreams to magically bump you on your way to work, but you can expect Him to correct you and your attitude regarding relationships to the point that you are made ready and motivated for a real relationship.

The Lord’s way is to teach us to fish and not just depend on receiving fishes.

To teach us to sow and not just to wait for the crops. The lessons, the wisdom, the revelation, the transformation, which we receive from our Maker is the true essence empowerment. It is not reliant on external solutions and concrete rewards, which can be taken away and lost, but on truths centred on Jesus Christ which leads to everlasting changes in us that will bless our thinking, our attitudes, our habits, and our very lives.