-
Dr. Crabb states that if you adopt the vision/goal stated above, “you will give up depending on your own competence. You will give up the pressure of having to make it happen, because you will know that you are out of your league.” How will knowing and believing this change the way you approach SoulCare?
-
How do you arouse in someone an appetite for God that exceeds all other appetites? Only God can. Yet, this is the root fix to all problems! Now i can see pass their current problems, and focus on something much bigger and in the process, God will take care of their problems. This surely is a new way for me to look at things. I too must first experience this for myself, an appetite for God above all else!
-
I must ask Christ for an appetite for Him so that I can do Soul Care from that perspective. Feeling like I must “fix” the person that has expressed a need or problem is absolutely the wrong approach. I am unable to do so. I must trust in the Holy Spirit living within me to enable me to do the work of reaching out in love. I believe I must first be quiet and listen carefully to my friend all the while depending on the Spirit to open my friend’s heart to change. I like Dr. Crabb’s approach of not depending on my own competence because I am definitely “out of my league”. It takes the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God to speak to the person’s heart.
-
For me it alleviates the need to get it right; to say the right thing, or to fear saying the wrong thing. The pressure is off. It then puts me in a place of humility to yield my will to HIs will, as I recognize my need for HIm. I would hope then that my approach is not a knee-jerk reaction to what someone says, that it is not me trying to figure it all out, but my soul will seek Him and join Him and the person on the journey that is already taking place. Knowing this will help me seek Him and stay attuned to Him and the spirit. The more I know God the more I will see the things inside of me that may block this process from happening. The more I am aware of the struggles I have, my sinful nature, and become convicted and confess, God and His spirit will enter my soul in a powerful way and release what is most alive in me! The more I see Him the better I see myself and the better I see myself the more I can see him. This process of becoming aware of what is most alive in me will grow my thirst for HIm and the result will be my soul pouring out into others.
-
I believe that when people happen to mention something to another they want to be listened to. It is important to ask how you can help them get to where they want to be. A small goal perhaps, but not providing advice unless they ask for it. We have to trust in others to provide wisdom to our lives which is why having a mentor who has studied the bible and practices such principles is helpful. It is difficult to ask others for help because our society has expressed that such action is expressing weakness, which in fact is the opposite. It takes courage for one to recognize that a change needs to be made. Having another person who can guide or even just be available can encourage the individual to think through the options and path they may want to take moving forward. An individual has to recognize he or she has a problem, and submit themselves to Christ. Repenting of sin, reading God’s Word, being discipled and encouraged to help us through our journeys in this life.
-
there are those who want to jump in and apply a “quick fix” to some ones problems and they do more harm than help. in most cases it is very hard to change anything unless we first change the way we think. if we go on a journey with the person or friend to whom we are mentoring to, we can feel in some manner what they may be going through and try to have them look at scripture along in the journey to let them see what God has to offer in their quest for healing and how they can use that to put Gods words in place of their problems.