Counseling and The Ten Commandments

Counselors Love Books

Some of the happiest moments of my life have been in the vast amounts of time I’ve spent with conservative biblical counselors. If you have never had this privilege, I promise you’re missing out. These wonderful men and women share several happy commonalities. They love Jesus and his Word. They love to spend time together with other ministers of the Word. They love to spend time with hurting people to help them overcome their challenges.

They also love books. This love of books is grounded in their other, primary loves of Jesus, the Bible, and growing in wisdom to care for others.

The love of biblical counselors for books is just one of the reasons for my most recent book The Ten Commandments: A Short Book for Normal People.

Three Kinds of Books

I’ve learned biblical counselors tend to love books in three particular categories.

First, biblical counselors are serious students of Scripture who love books about theology that unpack the character of God and explain crucial doctrines. Second, biblical counselors are serious about understanding people and their problems and so love books on counseling topics like depression, anxiety, sexuality, and many others. Third, biblical counselors are also serious students of counseling and love books unpacking and explaining counseling theory and process.

One of the truths of God’s Word that has interested me over the years is how each of these three categories are all brief but powerfully addressed in the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments unpack the character of God’s holy love rather obviously in the first three commandments. But you also see the essence of who he is as you trace his words in all the other commandments back to the character of the one who spoke them. Jesus says in Matthew 12:34, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Because this is true, we can be sure that the Ten Commandments give us a glowing revelation of the incredible character of God.

When it comes to counseling topics, the Ten Commandments are like one big compendium of counseling issues. The Commandments address a spectrum of counseling issues with a brevity and power unlike any other document. The Fifth Commandment addresses the complex topic of family relationships. For folks needing instruction on correction on sexual ethics, there’s the Seventh Commandment. When you need an authoritative word to encourage integrity in a dishonest counselee, the Ninth Commandment speaks with clarity. A working knowledge of the Ten Commandments is one of the easiest ways to fill your reservoir of counseling resources.

When it comes to counseling process, the Ten Commandments are a rich resource of wisdom. As just one example, the profound teaching of the Tenth Commandment on coveting has a depth of wisdom that secular counselors cannot begin to fathom. Its teaching on how sinfulness flows from corrupt desires in the human heart is a master key unlocking every counseling issue.

This is all a huge part of the reason why I wrote The Ten Commandments: A Short Book for Normal People. I want to help counselors and counselees grow in wisdom and skill. I am praying the book provides such help for you.

Receive the first chapter for free here!