The first step to solving any problem is, of course, identifying what the problem is. This is one of the most difficult and most important aspects of counseling and must be given careful attention. Failure to understand the real problem will lead to frustration for both the counselor and the counselee.
Labels
The label one uses to describe a problem is more important than one might naturally assume. Accurate names point to proper solutions. When a person has a dangerously low body temperature we call it hypothermia (hypo – “low” thermia – “temperature”). The label makes the solution obvious (raise the person’s temperature). Applying an accurate label to the problem provides insight into the solution.
One of the most damaging effects of Freudian psychological jargon is the fact that most of the labels cloud, rather than clarify both the nature of the problem and the solution. Sigmund Freud wanted people to think of their non-physical problems as diseases of the unconscious mind, and so the labels he invented were calculated to sound scientific and clinical. And that approach to labeling the struggles of the soul has caught on in modern psychology.
Even our secular culture has begun to realize how unhelpful many of these terms are (note the popularity of the term “psychobabble”). Nevertheless, psychological terminology has had a profound effect on the way our culture tends to think about spiritual problems. Those who have been diagnosed with a psychological “disease” will often identify themselves with the label they have been given to the degree that they feel it is part of who they are. And as a result, any attempt to apply biblical terms to the particular issues at hand is considered simplistic or shallow, because it ignores the scientific-sounding disorder or “disease.”
The biblical terminology, however, is anything but shallow. It reflects divine truth and sheds light on the nature of the problem. When a person’s struggle can be stated in biblical terms, discovering the solution becomes much easier. In fact, in many cases the person will be able to find the solution by himself once a wise counselor has helped pinpoint the correct biblical terminology. The world’s labels obscure; God’s labels enlighten.
There are at least two important ways the psychological terminology tends to obscure:
Euphemism – Exchanging vocabulary that indicates evil, sin, or culpability for vocabulary
that recasts sin in medical-sounding terms.
Category Confusion – Mixing unrelated categories together under one label.
Euphemisms for sin
In chapter two (under the heading “Destruction of the Conscience”) we found that psychological jargon is calculated to eliminate guilt. An important step in diagnosis is to translate the problem back into biblical categories.
Grumbling, not venting
Lack of self-control or being controlled by the flesh, not compulsive
Worry, fretting, and anxiety, not stressed
Cowardice or fear, not insecurity
Discontent, not coping
Selfishness or pride, not self-esteem
Enslavement, not addiction
Fornicating, not living together
Prideful, arrogant self-centered hard heartedness against God, not independent or self-reliant
Idolatrous, not eclectic
Lacking conviction, not open-minded
Bitter, angry, resentful, or self-pitying; not wounded
Won’t, not can’t
Hard-heartedness, not emotional issues
Covetousness or greed, not emotional needs
Fear of man, not co-dependence
Selfish demands, not rights
Revenge, not defense mechanisms
Prideful self-absorption, not inferiority complex
Drunkenness, not alcoholism
Sin, not disease
Ignorantly, not subconsciously
Unrepentant or hard-hearted, not in denial
Double-mindedness, not rapid cycling
Category Confusion
Another way psychological jargon obscures the truth is by mixing unrelated characteristics—some good and some bad—together in one label. For example, consider the following is a list of characteristics of codependency.[1]
My good feelings about who I am stem from receiving approval from you
My mental attention is focused on manipulating you to do it my way
My fear of rejection determines what I say or do
My fear of your anger determines what I say or do
I put my values aside in order to connect with you
Your struggle affects my serenity.
My mental attention is focused on solving your problems or relieving your pain.
My mental attention is focused on you.
My mental attention is focused on protecting you.
My own hobbies or interests are put to one side.
The first five are symptoms of selfishness, pride and fear of man, and the solution is humility, love, and fear of God. The last five are symptoms of godly, selfless love and they do not need a solution.
One person labeled “bipolar” may have a problem with an unwillingness to accept suffering from God, which leads to depression. Another person with that same label may have made an idol out of pleasure. Two very different problems with different solutions – both given the same label by the world.
Setting the problem in biblical terms can be a great encouragement to the counselee because it shows him that his problem is not a complex mental disease, but rather a list of traits, some of which are actually virtues. For example, an anorexic must have extraordinary self-discipline to make herself exercise and resist food. Sometimes even biblical counselors will insist that is a bad thing in the case of anorexia. It is not. Self control is part of the fruit of the Spirit and should be encouraged. The sin is not her self-control; it is her self-destruction (and the attitudes and affections that drive that self-destruction). Where there are wrong desires, motives, thoughts, or affections behind the behavior, those sins must be corrected. But the self-control itself is a virtue that should be encouraged.
In fact, that virtue could be a key to the solution. In some cases the anorexic’s primary problem is lack of self-control over her thought life. When she applies the same discipline to developing a godly thought life that she does to controlling her physical body, her attitudes will change. Knowing that self-control is a godly trait that can be used for her recovery can be wonderfully motivating for her. It is worldly thinking to lump her self-discipline in with the rest of her problem.
Another example is mania. Manic behavior is a blend of sinful and non-sinful aspects:
Feeling invincible, euphoric, or optimistic. Getting up early in the morning. Being extremely energetic.
Selfishness, boasting, unbridled pursuit of pleasure, unfaithfulness, self-centeredness, irresponsibility, irritability, refusing to listen to wise counsel, rejecting wisdom.
Nothing in the first group is sinful and everything in the second group is sinful. Lumping them all together in the useless term “mania” does nothing to assist in the solution. But casting the issues in biblical terms makes the solution clear.
Using biblical terminology, then, is an essential first step in diagnosing a problem. Many Christians who would feel unqualified to help a person who says “I have codependency” would have no trouble at all counseling a person who says, “My behavior is driven by anger and a fear of rejection, and I’m so wrapped up in a relationship that I have been forsaking the assembly.”
Dig Deep
Biblical counselors are often accused of oversimplifying people’s problems, and in some cases this criticism is justified. It is not an oversimplification to use biblical terminology and apply biblical remedies, however there can be a tendency for some biblical counselors to fail to appreciate the complexity of a problem.
Not everyone with the same list of symptoms suffers from the same disease. Just as a runny nose may be caused by a variety of different illnesses, so a spiritual problem can have a variety of causes. One anorexic might be consumed with her looks, while another holds being in control as an idol. One person’s temper problem may be a result of a wrong view of suffering, while another person is angry because of materialism or pride or discontent.
People are complex, and their problems are complex. People do what they do because of an intricate mix of desires, values, beliefs, attitudes, cravings, goals, thoughts, impulses, etc. If the problem were simple they would not need counsel. Assuming you know what is behind a problem tends toward shallow, misguided counsel that usually is both condescending and unhelpful. And when those shallow solutions do not work, it undermines the person’s confidence in God’s Word.
It is important to dig deep. Note carefully, however, the difference between biblical and psychological conceptions of “digging deep.” In psychotherapy it means probing into the person’s past and attempting to gain access to the unconscious. The biblical counseling approach is to delve deeply into the heart. And that is done by speaking with the person about his conscious mind – what he thinks, how he feels, what his motives are, etc.
Discovering what happened in the past to begin the behavior is rarely important. What is important is discovering why the behavior is ongoing. There may be a woman, for example, who fell into a certain pattern of behavior as a teenager because she wanted to get the attention of the opposite sex. Now that behavior is persisting, not because she is still trying to attract men but simply because it has become a habit. If a driver is traveling east when she should be going west, it does not matter what first started her on her eastward orientation; it only matters that she turn around and begin travelling west.
The reason psychotherapy focuses so much on the past is the Freudian doctrine that behavior arises from the unconscious, which was shaped by damaging past experiences. How hopeless would be our condition if that were true! No matter how many past traumas a therapist digs up one would have no way of knowing if there were still some unknown event that could cause trouble the rest of his life. The wonderful news of Scripture is that whatever happened in one’s past, God has power to redeem and restore the heart right now – without undoing anything in the past.
Identity: Your past or your future?
If there is no God and people are the product of accidental evolution then one’s identity is nothing more than his past. A person is merely the product of all his past experiences. If he was abused as a child, that defines who he is. The Bible, however, gives us a very different picture. We are the product of a wise, purposeful God who has a plan for our existence. One’s identity, then, is defined not by his past but by his future – what he is becoming. Past experiences and decisions do not define what a person is – only where he is.
The Bible describes this life as a walk. We are always stepping in some direction. Each person got where he is now through a series of steps. If he is in a bad place, then, the good news is that since he got there through a series of steps, he can get out through a series of steps. The things that happened to him did not put him in the place he is. It was the steps he took – decisions he made. That is why one abused child turns into a mess, and another is abused and grows up fine. Some people respond to abuse with wrong steps and others respond with right steps. The abuse itself does not cause spiritual damage – only the wrong steps that may result. And when there have been some wrong steps, the solution is not to retrace those steps backwards, but to simply make a course correction. If you get a phone call from a person who is trying to get to your house but is lost, you do not need to find out how he got lost or which turns he took. You simply give him directions from wherever he is to your house.
A man is what he is – not what he was. And even more significant is what he will be. Consider the biblical descriptions of a believer. His past – a condemned enemy of God. His future – righteousness and glorification. And when God speaks of a believer’s identity it is in terms of his future – what he is becoming, not his past.
George Washington is known as our first president, even though he became president at age 57 and died at age 67. For 85% of his life he was neither President nor a former president. But when we look back from our perspective in time we can see the big picture of who he was. He was our first president, because that’s what he ended up becoming. When God looks at a person’s life He sees the big picture – the eternal picture. George Washington was our first president; you are a saint – a holy one. God can see what you are becoming, what you were created to be and will be for all eternity. The fact that you have not yet reached your full maturity is incidental. In fact, that is where the George Washington illustration breaks down. While he was a non-president throughout most of his life, a saint will be holy for all eternity and is sinful only during this short life. A better illustration would be a fertilized egg compared to a fully developed human body. No one sees a crowded room and says, “Look at all these highly developed eggs.” One’s identity is determined by what he is becoming.
This is one of the most glorious truths of the gospel. The believer’s future is glorious beyond imagination, and his past is no problem! Grew up without any parents around like Samuel? No problem. Picked on, mistreated, and neglected by parents and older siblings like David? No problem. You used to be a fornicator, adulterer, homosexual, thief, or drunk like the people in 1 Cor.6:11? No problem. Maybe even a murderer like Paul? No problem. Denied Christ publically three times like Peter? No problem. Your past is no problem because God specializes in redemption. This is the great news for every person we counsel!
Dig deeply – into the heart, not the past.
What Lies Beneath: Diagnosing the Inner Man
A common mistake in assessing one’s spiritual condition is to focus mainly on actions and words. Sinful actions and words are like fruit produced by the tree and root system of the inner man. All sin originates in the heart, (Mt.12:34, 15:18, Mk.7:21-22) and so no sin problem can be corrected without addressing the part of the inner man that is the source of that problem. Focusing only on a person’s actions is like a doctor who examines only the skin. It was the error of the Pharisees, who were repeatedly rebuked by Jesus for neglecting the matters of the heart.
Human pride takes a “head in the sand” approach to the sins of the inner man. A harsh or bitter word comes out of the mouth and we say, “I didn’t mean that.” Or “I don’t know where these actions are coming from – I’m just not myself lately.” We imagine that our sinful actions have some other source – or no source at all, and we are therefore absolved. There is no problem in the heart that must be addressed. Just a quick apology, an assurance that it did not come from the inside, and all is well.
That is a fantasy. Sins do not come out of nowhere. Jesus was very clear:
Matthew 12:34 out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Mark 7:21 from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
There is much more to human sinfulness than simply carrying out wrong actions. Words and actions are like fruit on a tree. They are produced by unseen processes within the trunk, branches, and root system. To properly diagnose a problem one must discover which components of the inner man are not as they should be. No sin problem can be corrected without correcting the problems in the inner man that generated that sin.
The Components of the Inner Man
When Jesus pointed to the heart as the source of all our sin He used the word heart in a way that includes all the various functions of the inner man, including the thought life (“…evil thoughts…”), desires (“…greed…”), motives (“…deceit…”), and attitudes (“…envy, arrogance, folly”).
Great care must be taken at this point, however, because no counselor is able to see into someone else’s heart, and so it is sinful judging to assume a person has a particular sin on the inside. For example, if a person is struggling with the sin of obscene language the counselor must never assume he knows the internal cause. It can only be discovered by the sinner himself. The counselor’s role is simply to instruct the person in how to examine his own heart. This is done by pointing out from the Bible what God requires in the inner man and asking questions about the person’s thoughts, motives, attitudes, desires, etc.
There are at least six categories of the inner man that must be examined. A person carries out a sinful action or speaks sinful words because of at least one of the following:
A sinful will (wrong motives and decisions)
Ungodly attitudes/inclinations
Evil desires
Wrong feelings/emotions
And those are all the product of wrong thoughts and beliefs.
The inner man is complex. In fact even the diagram above is an oversimplification. We know that all our actions are produced by the heart (inner man), and Scripture often speaks of beliefs and thoughts as being the root cause underneath emotions, inclinations, desires, and will; however it is also true that the emotions, inclinations, desires, and will have an effect on thoughts and beliefs. All the various parts of man interact with one another and affect one another in complex ways. This model is offered simply to make the point that each of the various aspects of the inner man must be examined when diagnosing a problem. Every sin arises from the inner man and involves some combination of the various parts of the heart.
Psychologists also speak of the inner man being complex and deep, but in a much different way. One of Freud’s most influential successes was his ability to convince modern culture of his ideas about the unconscious (or subconscious). He taught that thoughts, emotions, inclinations, etc. all rise up out of the unconscious. And beliefs, rather than being at the root, are merely a product of the unconscious like everything else.
Another key difference between psychology and Scripture is the location of the inner man. Because of the influence of naturalism on modern psychology, the tendency is to think of human nature in mainly mechanistic, physical terms. Whereas Jesus pointed to the heart as the source of behavior (Mk.7:22-23), psychologists and psychiatrists point to the brain. When Jesus speaks of the heart He is speaking of a spiritual entity. The brain, on the other hand, is a physical organ.
This is one reason there is such a propensity within psychology to understate responsibility and culpability for things that go wrong within a person. The way a person feels and thinks is caused by the subconscious mind, which is a product of one’s past and is outside of one’s control. And since actions are a product of inclinations, thoughts, and feelings, some take this model to its logical conclusion and say that not even one’s bad actions are necessarily his fault. People decide to get drunk or commit crimes because of mental disease caused by incidents in the past that were outside the person’s control.
Jesus’ death on the cross, however, purchased every part of our being – heart, mind, soul, and strength; and no part of our humanity is outside the bounds of His requirement of righteousness. Every part has been damaged by sin, and every part is in need of redemption.
The Standard of Health
To diagnose a malady one must first know what health is. A dysfunctional liver is diagnosed by comparing it to the way a healthy liver is supposed to function. For a counselor to diagnose a problem in the inner man, then, it is essential to understand what God commands regarding the inner man. What is the standard for health when it comes to thoughts, inclinations, attitudes, etc.?
For the world health is defined by that which is normal. If a person is behaving or feeling abnormally he goes to a psychotherapist or psychiatrist with the goal of getting back to normal. But normal is not the standard for children of God. In fact, for believer the norms of this world are the problem, not the solution.
1 Corinthians 3:3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking according to man? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?[2]
Paul wrote the book of 1 Corinthians to rebuke the church in Corinth for being normal. This is yet another reason why the Bible and the doctrines of psychotherapy are utterly incompatible and cannot be integrated. They have opposite goals. Psychotherapy seeks to make the counselee a normal, worldly person; but according to Scripture being a normal, worldly person is the disease that needs a cure. Spiritual health is defined not by normality but by what God commands. The goal in diagnoses, then, is to discover actions, words, motives, emotions, attitudes, decisions, desires, inclinations, thoughts, and beliefs that are not in line with what God commands in His Word.
Diagnosing the Thoughts
Every part of the inner man is very closely connected to the thoughts, and so diagnosing the thought life is a crucial part of getting to the source of a problem. The following is a list of ways the thoughts typically depart from what God has commanded.
Regarding truth…
All thoughts about God that are untrue are sinful. (Mt.9:4)
Thoughts are sinful if they are a rejection of God’s Word. (Heb.12:25)
Thoughts are sinful if they are an evaluation of a concept or idea according to human wisdom rather than God’s Word. (1 Cor.1:18-2:5)
Regarding attitudes…
Thoughts arising out of pride are sinful. (Lk.1:51)
Thoughts that reveal a lack of love are sinful. (Jas.2:4, Mt.5:22)
Regarding desire…
Thoughts are sinful if they are fantasies about actions that would be sinful (Ro.13:14, Pr.14:22, Mt.5:28) Rule of thumb: if it would be wrong to do, it’s wrong to fantasize about. (Sins in the thought life are not virtual sins – they are as real as adultery or murder.)
The thoughts of the flesh are sinful. (greed, discontent, materialism, coveteousness, or any other sinful desire – Eph.2:3)
Thoughts are sinful if they move in the direction of discontent. (Heb.13:5)
Regarding the Future…
Thoughts about the future are sinful if they nurture worry, fretting, or lack of trust. (Ps.37:8, Mt.6:25-34)
Regarding the present…
Thoughts are sinful if they are from a temporal point of view. (Col.3:1-2)
Regarding the past…
Thoughts are sinful if they remove responsibility from our past decision making. (Lk.16:15)
Thoughts are sinful if past events are not seen as intentional good acts of a sovereign and loving God. (Ps.143:5)
Where any of these kinds of sinful thoughts exist they will cause problems, and any attempt at solving those problems without addressing the sins in the thought life will be fruitless.
Diagnosing the Decisions
Decisions are not driven in a mechanistic way by chemicals in the brain or impulses from the subconscious. God commands us concerning the choices we make, which means the will is within our control. Any decision to choose something that does not please the Father falls short of Jesus’ example (Jn.8:29) and must be corrected.
Diagnosing the Motives
In Matthew six Jesus spoke condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees with three examples: giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting (they were doing all three with the sinful motive of self-glorification). He selected three actions that are generally regarded as righteous in order to drive home the point that anything, if done with wrong motives, is sin.
If the counselee’s struggle is with a particular behavior, begin by exploring motives. Ask the counselee to think through whether he has a particular goal in mind when he does this behavior. What is he trying to accomplish? If the goal of an action is anything prohibited by God’s Word, the motive itself is sin and must be repented of. One of the most common sinful motives is the desire to bring honor to oneself. (Matthew 6:1-6,16-18)
Very often the answer at this point is, “I don’t know why I do it. I just do it without thinking.” In this case a few suggestions from a humble counselor may provide insight. If a mother is mystified over why she always yells at her children the counselor might ask, “Is it possible that your motive is revenge – a response of the flesh to strike back at them for irritating you? Or could it be that you do it in order to get them to obey, because the only way to get them to listen is to raise your voice? Or is part of your motive to make sure your husband hears what’s going on, so he realizes the children are disobeying?” Sometimes when various possible motives are suggested the counselee will be able to identify one or more of them as the cause in her particular case.
Discerning wrong motives in oneself can be extremely difficult. We convince ourselves that we are carrying out tough love when in reality our motive is to exact some revenge. We insist we are innocently flipping through the channels on TV just to see what is on, or innocently clicking on something online out of curiosity, when in reality we are hoping to “inadvertently” stumble across something to feed our lusts. A prayer request for someone becomes a cover for the desire to gossip. The way a story is told is disguised boasting. Under the pretense of helping our spouse make spiritual progress, the hidden motive is to get him or her to treat us better. The human heart can be so deceitful that some sinful motives can go undetected even when we search for them.
1 Corinthians 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.
Tread carefully when diagnosing motives. We must never rely on our suspicions about the person’s motives. No matter how good or bad a person’s motives may seem to be, we are not God and we do not have the ability to see into the heart.[3] If you suspect a bad motive, simply ask the person if that motive exists. Or suggest to the person that it may possibly exist and urge him to give it some consideration. But once he has considered it, always accept what he tells you regarding what is in his heart. Do remind the counselee, however, that there is a possibility that there could be a wrong motive that has gone undetected.
Diagnosing the Emotions
The emotions (or affections) are another example of where biblical counseling and secular psychology have dramatically different goals. For the world the goal is to feel better (less internal suffering). For believers the goal is to feel rightly, which in some cases may actually increase suffering.
There is a great deal of resistance, outside and inside the Church, to the idea that we are responsible for how we feel, and that it is possible to feel wrongly. Most people have been persuaded by modern psychology of a non-cognitive view of emotions. This is the view that suggests that emotions are simply something that happen to you and are outside of your control.[4] In the non-cognitive view emotions can never be appropriate or inappropriate, right or wrong, moral or immoral. They are simply names of various sensations. Feeling angry or happy or hopeful or depressed in your soul is no more moral or immoral than feeling hot or cold in your body.[5]
This view decreases the sense of responsibility for actions that are related to feelings. One study, for example, showed that when subjects were given a placebo and told it would make them more emotional they were more likely to cheat on a test.[6] Sinful behaviors are seen as understandable if a drug or some other factor is making the person “emotional.”
The cognitive view of emotions, on the other hand, holds that “emotions are not names of feelings, but rather the results of the interpretations of objects and situations.”[7] Objects and situations are evaluated by the mind, weighed against the norms in one’s belief system, found to be desirable or undesirable, and the response to that assessment is emotion. According to this view there are indeed right and wrong emotions because there can be correct or incorrect assessments of objects and situations (assessments that do or do not correspond with reality), and there can be responses that are appropriate or inappropriate for the circumstances at hand. For example, suppose a person felt delight in response to an unjust attack on a helpless person. That would reflect a heart that prizes evil.
This is not to imply that all emotional responses are the result of detailed, conscious reasoning. Some emotional responses are seemingly instantaneous. Even those responses, however, are based on some kind of cognitive evaluation. Discerning that a lion 20 feet away is a threat, or that a plate of one’s favorite food is delightful are determinations that take place almost instantly, yet they are cognitive evaluations nonetheless. It is the intellect that is able to discern that the lion is not a rock and that the food is not garbage.
Because of belief systems and thought patterns, an observed object or situation is regarded as good or bad, threatening or safe, beautiful or ugly, desirable or repulsive. A person who has developed a belief system in which personal comfort is highly valued may have a seemingly instantaneous response of anger when a person or circumstance interferes with his comfort. While seemingly instantaneous, however, the angry response does not occur until after he has assessed the situation as a threat to her comfort at some level.
Biblical Argument for the Cognitive View of Emotions
Which view fits best with the approach God’s Word takes in discussing emotions? The following four observations point in the direction of the cognitive view:
1) Emotions are portrayed in Scripture as resulting from evaluations of circumstances.
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God … Therefore rejoice…”[8]
“Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said”[9]
“I remember my affliction … and my soul is downcast within me.”[10]
“This I call to mind and therefore I have hope”[11]
“This is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all … envy.”[12]
“My bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. … I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.”[13]
“Let us … be glad … for the wedding of the Lamb has come.”[14]
Reasons are given for emotions, and the reasons that are given are offered not only as explanations for the emotions but also as means of bringing about the needed changes in emotions. When an emotion is commanded or forbidden, and a reason is supplied, that reason is also very often the instrument by which one can succeed in obeying the command.
The problem of sinful fear or fretting, for example, can be overcome by focusing upon the promises of God’s help or the transience of the wicked. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”[15] “Do not fret because of evil men … for like the grass…”[16] Emotions of turmoil and anxiety can give way to emotions of peacefulness of soul by means of realizing and believing that hope comes from God. “Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him.”[17]
It is sometimes taught that the way to generate godly emotions is to carry out obedient actions, and the emotions will follow like the caboose on a train. Such a promise is not found in Scripture, however. The biblical approach to changing emotions is changing beliefs.[18] The fact that reasons are given for emotions demonstrates that the truths that are genuinely believed in the heart are the determiners of how one feels. Richard Baxter’s articulation of this principle is worth quoting at length:
Consideration, as it were, opens the door between the head and the heart. The understanding having received truths, lays them up in the memory, and consideration conveys them from thence to the affections. … Consideration presents to the affections those things which are most important. The most delightful object does not entertain where it is not seen, nor the most joyful news affect him who does not hear it … Are not Christ and glory affecting objects? Would they not work wonders upon the soul, if they were but clearly discovered, and our apprehensions of them in some measure corresponded to their worth? … Consideration, also, presents the most important things in the most affecting way. … [and] helps to deliver [the intellect] from its captivity to the senses, and sets it again on the throne of the soul. When reason is silent, it is usually subject; for when it is asleep, the senses domineer. But consideration awakens our reason, till, like Samson, it rouses up itself, and breaks the bonds of sensuality, and bears down the delusions of the flesh. … Meditation holds reason and faith to their work, and blows the fire till it thoroughly burns. To run a few steps will not get a man heat, but walking an hour may; and though a sudden occasional thought of heaven will not raise our affections to any spiritual heat, yet meditation can continue our thoughts till our hearts grow warm. … It is by consideration that we … take those heavenly doctrines which we intend to make the subject of our meditation; such as promises of eternal life, descriptions of the saints’ glory, the resurrection, &c. We then present them to our judgment, that it may deliberately view them and take an exact survey, and determine uprightly concerning the perfection of our celestial happiness, against all the dictates of flesh and sense, and so as to magnify the Lord in our hearts, till we are filled with a holy admiration. But the principal thing is to exercise, not merely our judgment, but our faith in the truth of the promises, and of our own personal interest in them, and title to them. If we did really and firmly believe that there is such a glory, and that within a few days our eyes shall behold it, O what passion would it raise within us! What astonishing apprehensions of that life would it produce! What love, what longing would it excite within us! O how it would actuate every affection! How it would transport us with joy, upon the least assurance of our title! Never expect to have love and joy move, when faith stands still, which must lead the way. … Love is the first affection to be excited in heavenly contemplation; the object of it is goodness.[19]
2) Emotions are spoken of in Scripture as appropriate or inappropriate, true or false, right or wrong.
When Mary was weeping at Jesus’ empty tomb the angels asked her for an explanation for her inappropriate emotions.[20] Sadness was the wrong response to Jesus’ tomb being empty on the third day because the emptiness of the tomb was the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesied resurrection. Mary wept because of an incorrect assessment of the circumstances (she interpreted the empty tomb to mean someone had taken the body of Jesus).
Scripture speaks not only of emotions stemming from incorrect assessment of circumstances but also from wrong beliefs. Emotions result not merely from the assessment of circumstances, but from judging that assessment against the norms of one’s belief system.[21] This is why as beliefs change emotions will also change even when circumstances remain the same. If a person is fully convinced that a gift is of great worth it will bring joy, whereas exactly the same gift, if it is believed to be given with ill-motives may bring sadness or anger.
Jesus rebuked the disciples for having fear in the midst of the storm,[22] as that emotion was not fitting given the fact that Jesus was with them. Their assessment of the circumstances was correct (there was indeed a furious storm), but their beliefs about Jesus (that he did not care about their wellbeing or was not able to protect them) were incorrect resulting in an inappropriate emotion.
3) Emotions are portrayed in Scripture as accurate indicators of righteousness or unrighteousness.
Emotions always tell the truth about what is in the heart. Emotions cannot be trusted to teach truth about God or right and wrong, but they can be trusted to tell the truth about our own hearts. A person is only delighted by what is good if his heart is good, and he is only delighted by what is evil if his heart is evil. The righteous are those who delight in God’s law,[23] God’s path,[24] God’s people,[25] God’s works,[26] God’s Sabbath,[27] truth,[28] the fear of the Lord,[29] and the Lord himself.[30] The wicked are the ones who delight in lies,[31] war,[32] mockery,[33] wrongdoing,[34] abominations,[35] and wickedness.[36]
While Scripture warns against carrying out seemingly righteous actions with sinful motives,[37] there are not such warnings against having righteous emotions with sinful motives. It is possible to pray, give, or fast in a sinful manner, but it is not possible to delight in God in a sinful manner.
4) Emotions are commanded in Scripture.
God directly commands delight,[38] peace,[39] joy,[40] rest,[41] compassion,[42] patience,[43] awe,[44] fear,[45] tender-heartedness,[46] brotherly affection,[47] sympathy,[48] heart-felt love,[49] hope,[50] desire,[51] contentment,[52] confidence,[53] and zeal.[54] Furthermore, God promised harsh punishment upon those who failed to obey with the emotions of joy and gladness,[55] and upon priests who said “what a burden” while serving the Lord.[56]
Conclusion: The Bible supports a cognitive view of emotions
The biblical view of emotions, then, is that they are responses to assessments of circumstances measured against one’s beliefs and are therefore accurate indicators of what the heart truly believes. For this reason emotions are of prime importance and one is ultimately responsible for his emotional responses.
While the individual does not have immediate control over his emotions he does have indirect influence. When an emotion is sinful he can discern which beliefs are wrong, which things are valued too highly or not highly enough, and which thought patterns are errant; and he can endeavor to make the needed corrections. As beliefs conform more closely to Scripture, the emotions will become more aligned with God’s emotions.
Diagnose the person’s emotions, then, by comparing them with what is commanded in God’s Word.
Love God and His people, not the world (Mt.22:37)
Fear God, not men or circumstances (Mk.4:40)
Have joy in the Lord (Php.4:4, Dt.28:47-48)
No selfish anger (Eph.4:31)
Hope in the Lord alone (1 Pe.1:13)
Delight in the Lord (Ps.37:4)
Peace in the Lord (Jn.14:1)
Find rest in the Lord (Php.4:6, Mt.11:28)
Compassion for the suffering (Heb.3:12)
Awe of God (Heb.12:28)
Tender-heartedness (Eph.4:32)
Brotherly affection and sympathy (1 Pe.3:8)
Contentment (Heb.13:5)
Confidence in the Lord (2 Tim.1:8)
Zeal in the Lord (Ro.12:11)
Diagnosing the Desires
It is a revolutionary idea for some people to think that God makes demands on our desires. In fact, many people think the Christian life is a life of learning to say no to your strongest appetites and desires. That is not the Christian life. Believers are called not merely to resist evil desires, but to rid themselves of those desires. (Col.3:5) The Christian life is a life of good desires – hunger and thirst for righteousness and for the presence of God.[57] It is a life of delighting in God and having the desires of the heart fulfilled.[58]
Appetite and Desire
It may be helpful to differentiate between desires and appetites. Desires are specific and appetites are general. Wanting food is an appetite. Wanting a hamburger is a desire. Desires arise from appetites. The stomach becomes empty, there is a general appetite for food, and whichever specific food seems most likely to satisfy that appetite becomes the object of desire. Appetites are relatively similar among all people, while specific desires are very different from person to person. Two people have an empty stomach, but one believes a banana would be most satisfying while another looks to a steak as the solution.
Appetites and desires function the same way in the heart. Everyone experiences similar spiritual appetites. All people experience times of feeling empty on the inside. Like a person tossing and turning in bed who cannot get comfortable, the soul becomes restless with unfulfilled longings, groanings, and dissatisfaction. That is an appetite in the heart. Scripture refers to it as the thirst of the soul. And whatever a person thinks will cure that feeling of dissatisfaction is the object of that person’s desire.
IMPORTANT: Evil desire is when the soul believes some sinful thing will be the solution to the ache of the soul. Righteous desire is when the soul believes the nearness of God’s presence is the only solution to the ache of the soul.[59]
Desire and Righteous Living
It should come as no surprise that God makes demands upon our desires because our lives are driven much more by our desires than by our commitments. We commit to all kinds of things, but we usually end up doing the things to which our cravings drive us. In a difficult decision between options A and B, if there is a strong desire in the soul for B, all the pros and cons will tend to be interpreted by the mind in a way that favors B. Our tests of God’s will become self-fulfilling prophecies because even though we think our brain is fully in charge of decision making – it is not. Behind the scenes, emotions and desires are driving the ship and dictating to the brain how to interpret the data.
And that is not bad. God designed our decisions to be driven by our desires. The goal is not to become totally unbiased and objective so that the mind is not influenced by the desires; the goal is to have good desires resulting in a strong bias toward what is good.
Diagnose the desires, then, by discovering what the counselee believes would be the solution to the emptiness and longings of his soul. If he is unhappy and is convinced there is something other than the presence and favor of God that would be required for him to be happy, his desires are defective. Only the presence of God can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the human soul, and so when the desires become distorted such that we crave things that will not satisfy, that is a disorder that will lead to death.
Suppose a person took a blow to the head one day resulting in a distortion of appetites so that every time his stomach was empty, instead of triggering feelings of hunger it triggered a powerful desire to sleep. And every time he became dehydrated, instead of triggering feelings of thirst it triggered the desire to run. A person in that condition would soon die because he would never be able to remember to eat and drink enough to stay alive.
Craving things what cannot satisfy is a dire spiritual problem.
Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Why do we need a Bible verse to tell us not to eat and drink what does not satisfy? God has to tell us that because sin has caused a terrible appetite disorder in our souls such that we crave things that can never “hit the spot.” Believing that something besides God can satisfy the thirst of the soul is a grave evil.
It is often an uphill battle persuading a person that the things that seem so delightful in this world are not really the source of delight. A person who loves music will tend to believe that music is actually a source of joy for him. If that were true, however, then music would always produce joy. But it does not – even for the most extreme music lover. There are times when the music lover is depressed, turns on some music, and remains depressed. The fact that music (or food, or skiing, or sex, or time off work, etc.) sometimes results in happiness and other times does not proves that those things are not really the source of the happiness. Only the presence of God produces joy. If there is happiness after listening to music it is because God granted an experience of His favor through that music. Only God’s favorable presence can produce joy. And to remind us of that, God frequently allows our favorite things in this world to produce no joy at all. If God grants some grace – some access to His presence through earthly things, then they are satisfying. But when He doesn’t, they aren’t. Augustine’s statement is true: “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”
Single Desire
When this principle is understood, all desire can terminate on God.
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.(Ps.27:4)
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.(Ps.73:25-26)
My soul finds rest in God alone … Find rest, O my soul, in God alone.(Ps.62:1,5)
I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.(Ps.16:2 NAS)
Was it really true that Asaph did not have one single desire on earth other than God? Surely he must have desired a meal when he was hungry or a good night’s sleep when he was exhausted or enjoyment of family and friends and material things. Evidently the normal, healthy desires of life were, for Asaph, desires for God.
Desire for earthly thing, such as food, drink, shelter, relief from struggle, health, strength, or wealth; can be evil or good. Such desire is evil if one’s desire terminates on those objects, but is legitimate if they are desired only as expressions of God’s presence. This is why it is not a contradiction for the psalmist to say in “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing,” and in the very next line state that, “As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.”[60] If he delighted in the saints instead of God, or without reference to God, it would be idolatry. But since his delight in the saints was an expression of his delight in God, the two were not in competition at all and he could truthfully claim that he had no other desire besides his desire for God.
If one’s delight in created things arises from the intended meaning behind those created things then such delight is pleasing to God, who created all things for the enjoyment of his people.[61] If a man gives an engagement ring to the woman he loves and she delights in the ring because of what it means then the more she delights in the ring the more she honors the man. However, if she delights in the ring only because she loves diamonds and has no thought at all about the meaning of the ring, the man will surely be grieved. In the same way God is honored when his creation is enjoyed because of what it points to, but God is jealous when his creation is enjoyed without reference to him.
The desirability of all good things comes from the goodness of God. Paul expressed the same principle in similar words. The Lord is called “him who fills everything in every way.”[62] That which has any fullness of any kind receives that fullness from the Lord. In order for enjoyment to exist there must be a spring of joy supplying that enjoyment. The natural assumption would be that the spring is the earthly things that one enjoys. The Psalmist, however, points out that the spring of all his enjoyment was actually God.
There is a strong connection in Scripture between love for the world, idolatry, and spiritual adultery. Those who love the world are called adulteresses,[63] and those who are greedy are called idolaters.[64] The pleasures of the world are pictured both as rival gods and as rival husbands. This explains why adultery and idolatry are often used interchangeably in the prophets.[65] Desire is the foundation of all true worship. By desiring God the believer shows him to be desirable, which glorifies him. By desiring the world more than God a person tacitly declares the world to be more desirable than God. Looking to created things rather than God to satisfy desires, then, is idolatry. It lifts created things, rather than God, to the status of “most desirable.”
Similarly, Israel’s preference of their own “cisterns” (sources of satisfaction) over God’s “spring of living water” constituted idolatry.
‘Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,’ declares the LORD. ‘My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.’[66]
If a person’s desire ever terminates upon a created thing rather than upon God that person has fallen into idolatry. Lewis correctly notes that “In every wife, mother, child and friend [Jesus] saw a possible rival to God.”[67]
Diagnose desires by finding out from the person what he believes would be required in order for him to be happy. If it is something other than the nearness of God’s presence, you have wonderful news for him. The thing he thinks he needs to be happy (most likely something he cannot have) – he does not need! And the thing that will satisfy the ache in his soul is available!
Diagnosing the Inclinations (attitudes)
The Greek word for attitude is phroneo. Like any word it can be used different ways, but generally it means to be disposed or inclined, as having an attitude or frame of mind. In most cases it either means to be inclined toward a certain viewpoint, or to be inclined toward a certain set of priorities. When Peter rebuked Jesus for talking about dying on the cross, Jesus reproved him for his attitude.
Matthew 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you are not thinking (phroneo) the things of God, but the things of men.”
The reference is not merely to Peter’s thoughts, but to his frame of mind.[68]
Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep, thinking (phroneo) the same toward one another…
“Thinking the same” means being inclined to weep over the same things and rejoice over the same things.[69]
Pride and humility fall into the category of attitudes. A few times we read that we are not to “think (phroneo) high” regarding ourselves (Ro.11:20, 12:3,15-16). Instead our attitude (phroneo) should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Php.2:5). Love also falls into the category of an attitude.
Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel (phroneo) this way about all of you
Attitudes are particularly difficult to diagnose because they involve a complex of factors. In certain cases it may be appropriate to have a negative thought about a person, but not a negative attitude or disposition, and there is no objective point at which a series of thoughts crosses the line into being an attitude or disposition.
At the very least, however, the counselee should be instructed about God requirements regarding attitudes. A frame of mind that is consistently or overly pessimistic, negative, harsh, condescending, selfish, or critical is sinful, even when negative thoughts are appropriate for certain specific elements. For example, if a church has a bent toward legalism or lack of compassion, it is appropriate for a person to humbly draw attention to that flaw in an effort to help solve the problem. But there comes a point at which the person’s critiques are always negative and he seems unable to appreciate anything positive. That is an indication of a sinful attitude. In the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3, even when churches were guilty of terrible sins, Jesus still did not overlook or minimize their areas of strength.
Diagnosing Beliefs
We have seen that words and actions arise from the heart. And the various sins in the heart (wrong inclinations, thoughts, motives, desires, decisions, and emotions) all rise out of wrong beliefs. The way to diagnose beliefs, then, is by observing the fruit they produce. A person who claims to believe the right thing even though his actions or feelings are not consistent with that belief is self-deceived.
James 2:18 …I will show you my faith by what I do. …26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
So wherever there is a sin in a person’s life there will be a wrong belief at the heart of that sin. If a man views pornography it is because he believes, at the moment of temptation, that the pleasure he gets from that is to be preferred above the blessings of purity. A liar believes the benefits from the lie outweigh the benefits of telling the truth. There is always at least one wrong belief behind every sin, and the counselor’s job is to help the person discover those wrong beliefs and assist him in persuading his soul of the truth.
[1] Taken from http://www.mental-health-today.com/articles/codepen.htm
[2] Author’s translation.
[3] One of the evidences that proved Jesus to be God was His ability to see what was in people’s hearts.
[4] The most thorough study on emotions in the New Testament is currently Matthew Elliott’s very helpful book, Faithful Feelings: Emotions in the New Testament. I am indebted to him for much of the material in this section.
[5] Elliott suggests that the foundation upon which modern non-cognitive theory has been built was laid by Darwin and Descartes. The philosophical framework proposed by Descartes then gave birth to modern psychological theories about emotion, which, in turn, have heavily influenced Bible commentators. Feelings, 20-22.
[6] Elliott, Feelings, 51.
[7] Ibid, 29.
[8] Rev.12:10-13.
[9] 2 Sam.3:8.
[10] Lam.3:19-20.
[11] Lam.3:21.
[12] 1 Pe.1:25-2:1.
[13] Ps.6:2-7.
[14] Rev.19:7.
[15] Gen.26:24.
[16] Ps.37:1-2.
[17] Ps.62:5.
[18] This is not to say that behavior has no impact at all on the affections. God calls his people to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Ps.34:8) and Peter links that tasting with resultant craving (desire). “Crave pure spiritual milk … now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Pe.2:2-3) If a person dislikes hiking it is not guaranteed that she will automatically learn to enjoy hiking simply by engaging in the activity. If she does so with an attitude that says, “This is miserable and I can’t wait for it to be over,” and she has no knowledge or understanding about what is wonderful about hiking, the more she does the action the more her dislike of hiking will grow. However if her attitude is one of wanting to learn to enjoy hiking, and she learns what aspects of hiking are delightful, the action can indeed assist the change in affections.
[19] Richard Baxter, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, [book on-line], (accessed 17 June 2008), available from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/baxter/saints_rest.txt, Internet.
[20] Jn.20:13.
[21] Elliot, Feelings, 31-36.
[22] Mt.8:26.
[23] Ps.1:2, 112:1, 119:16,24,47,70,77,92,143,174, Jer.15:16, Ro.7:22.
[24] Ps.119:35.
[25] Ps.16:3.
[26] Ps.111:2.
[27] Isa.58:13.
[28] 1 Cor.13:6.
[29] Isa.11:3.
[30] Ps.37:4, Ps.43:4, Isa.61:10.
[31] Ps.62:4.
[32] Ps.68:30.
[33] Pr.1:22.
[34] Pr.2:14.
[35] Isa.66:3.
[36] Hos.7:3.
[37] Mt.6:1-18.
[38] Ps.37:4.
[39] Jn.14:1.
[40] Php.4:4.
[41] Php.4:6, Heb.4:11.
[42] Col.3:12.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Heb.12:28.
[45] Ecc.12:13.
[46] Eph.4:32.
[47] 1 Pe.3:8.
[48] Ibid.
[49] 1 Pe.1:22.
[50] Ps.131:3.
[51] 1 Cor.12:31.
[52] Heb.13:5.
[53] 2 Tim.1:8.
[54] Ro.12:11.
[55] Dt,28:47-48.
[56] Mal.1:10-13.
[57] Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
[58] Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
[59] Ps.42:1-2, Ps.63:1, Isa.55:2.
[60] Ps.16:3.
[61] 1 Tim.6:17.
[62] Eph.1:23. While some take plaroumenou as a passive, so that it is Christ who is being filled by God (see for example Harold Hoehner, Ephesians: an Exegetical Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 294-9.), Peter O’Brien points out that in Colossians “Christ already is the fullness of God.” (Peter O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999), 150.
[63] Jas.4:4.
[64] Col.3:5, Eph.5:5.
[65] “Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me– how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols” (Ezek.6:9). When a man or woman’s heart prefers a created thing to God, that created thing is like a false god or another lover. When it is conceived in terms of how it is the object of worship, it is called idolatry. When it is conceived in terms of how it is the object of desire, it is called adultery. The comingling of the ideas shows the close connection between desire and worship.
[66] Jer.2:11-13.
[67] C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, (New York: Harvest, 1960), 167.
[68] See also Php.3:19, 4:2.for uses of the term phroneo.
[69] See also Ro.15:5, 2 Cor.13:11, Php.2:2, 3:15.
