The Bible calls Jesus the Wonderful Counselor. (Isaiah 9:6) Since he created us and knows everything about us, he is the one person who knows how to set us free. When he launched his public ministry, he quoted the prophet Isaiah to summarize his mission.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Luke 4:18–19 (NLT)
Sin imprisons every human being. Jesus said that everyone who sins is a slave to it. (John 8:34) Satan takes advantage of our captivity to sin to hold us in bondage.
The gospel is the proclamation that Jesus died and rose again to provide for our release.
When Jesus rose from the grave, it demonstrated his victory of sin, Satan, sickness, and death. When we place our faith and allegiance in our Lord, we are born again in the spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives as our spirits become one with him. (I Corinthians 6:17) We are recreated in the spirit, becoming a new person on the inside. However, we are made up of spirit, soul, and body. The recreation and justification of the spirit does not automatically transform us at the soul or body levels of our existence. God provides salvation for the soul in a process the Bible calls sanctification or transformation, which takes place as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit on a day-to-day basis. The body will not be completely saved until the resurrection.
Spirit-led counseling can help with the transformation process and assist in liberating the soul from bondage, which comes from a variety of sources related to sin.
- Inherited generational devastation,
- Lies that form strongholds in our minds and hearts,
- Unhealed traumatic pain, and
- Demonization
Each of these areas of bondage needs to be addressed as part of our liberation process.
Generational Devastation
Generational devastation is present in every family to some degree or another. Sin always has negative consequences, and some affect those we love. Children may suffer harm because of the sins of their parents. For example, if a father commits a crime for which he is imprisoned, the entire family suffers as a result. Fatherless households often produce insecure children who get into trouble. The family may not have adequate income to properly provide for the needs of their children, denying them the opportunity to get a good education. Without fatherly discipline and guidance, children face an increased probability of repeating their father’s sins and the generational cycle.
The judgments or consequences attached to sin are called curses in the Old Testament. Jesus took upon himself the curse attached to sin when he became a curse for us by being nailed to a cross.
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13–14 (NLT)
Spirit-led counseling relies on the Holy Spirit to help the counselor and counselee to identify any generational sins and devastation that has been (is being) passed down in the counselee’s family. Each area needs to be addressed in the following manner.
- Confess the family’s participation in the sin(s) associated with the devastation and ask forgiveness.
- Proclaim Christ’s victory over every aspect of the judgment associated with that area of devastation.
- Confess that the family is no longer under that curse or judgment, thanks to Christ.
- Ask God to establish the very opposite as a new family legacy. For instance, if the generational devastation is verbal abuse, ask the Lord to make the family known for its kind and affirming words to each other.
Christ healed us by his wounds, but, when we get sick, we need to appropriate and confess his victory over sickness by faith. In the same way, we are to appropriate our Lord’s victory over generational devastation when we identify it.
Lie-Based Strongholds
Jesus is the Truth. (John 14:6) His truth sets us free. (John 8:31)
Satan uses lies to block us from experiencing God’s blessings.
These lies can come from a variety of sources.
- What we are told by family, friends, and enemies, such as, “you will never amount to anything.”
- Our own conclusions, which are based on life experience. For example, if we are abandoned by our mother, we may conclude that we are unlovable or that everyone we love will abandon us.
When we are young, we do not have an adult capacity to critique what we are told. Children believe what is spoken over them, and even when we find out later that much of what we were told was a lie, we may still believe it at a heart level.
True freedom from a lie comes when we believe truth in the heart. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can minister to a person at this level.
When we hear another person tell us the truth, we often deflect it by using the shield of the lie we believe at the heart level. For example, a person may feel unloved because he was abused by someone who should have protected him. When we tell him that God loves him, he may say, “I know that, but why did he allow the abuse to happen.” The presence of a “but” often reveals a lie-based stronghold.
Spirit-led counseling asks the Holy Spirit to reveal the lie. Once that is identified, we ask the Spirit to speak to the person about this. This can happen in a variety of ways. The person can discern the voice of the Lord in his or her spirit. God can make a Bible verse “come alive.” The person might discern the voice of the Lord coming through another person during a sermon, counseling, or simple conversation. In a counseling session, time should be set aside for silently waiting on the Lord to allow him to speak to the heart of the counselee. When he or she hears the Lord speak, it releases them from the lie in a most incredible way.
Unhealed Traumatic Pain
Jesus is the healer of body and soul. Spirit-led counseling addresses unhealed traumatic soul pain caused by deep wounds. These wounds can fester into bitterness and lie-based strongholds.
Whereas God’s truth liberates us from lies, Jesus must heal our wounded hearts.
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NASB95)
When a deep unhealed soul wound is identified, such as what may occur if a person is betrayed or abandoned, it should be brought to the Lord in prayer for healing. Most likely he will speak to the heart of the wounded one from Scripture or some other way. If bitterness attached itself to the wound, that should be confessed and forsaken and the offender verbally released from any debt owed, spiritual or material.
One cannot move forward in healing and deliverance if any bitterness is present.
Demonization
Demons seek to gain a foothold in our lives where there is generational devastation, lie-based strongholds, or unhealed pain. If any demons are identified, they should be cast out after dealing with what gave them entrance.
Conclusion
When we counsel people, we should bring together our knowledge of the Bible, whatever wisdom we have gained through life experience, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and prayer. We should commit the counseling session to the Lord in prayer, reminding ourselves aloud that we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness and authority. We should bind any and every evil spirit that might try to hinder the process. We should ask the Lord to help us hear his voice only. Once that is done, we should proceed with the childlike expectation that he will guide and assist us, since he desires the counselee’s liberation far more than we do.
After the session, we should commit the counselee to the Lord to watch over and protect him or her from any counterattack of the enemy. Usually, it takes several sessions to achieve the desired level of freedom.
