A List of Some Common Biblical Counselling Topics

Here are some of the more common Biblical counselling topics that I know of. I am sure this is not an exhaustive list though. And some topics have related sub-topics. Each has a methodology that works best, but the common denominator of course, is Jesus Christ and His ability to identify sin, forgive sin, and heal all transgressions and idolatries.

I will often give this list to a counselee to identify any areas that need healing even though they have often come for a certain topic(s). Once they see this list, they inevitably are stirred to identify other issues. Many issues on this list are in groups and it is wise to counsel on those other things in a group.

Counselling Topics

 Abuse

 Addiction

 ADHD

 Anger

 Anxiety

 Authority

 Bipolar

 Bitterness

 Burnout

 Children

 Communication

 Conflict

 Depravity

 Depression

 Deprivation

 Disorders

 Faith

 Fear

 Forgiveness

 Friendships

 Gospel

 Grief

 Health

 Honesty

 Identity and Self-Image

 Idolatry

 Intimacy

 Love

 Manhood

 Marriage

 Money

 Paranoid Personality

 Parenting

 Prayer

 PTSD

 Relationships

 Repentance

 Sanctification

 Self-Care

 Self-Control

 Self-Esteem

 Self-Harm

 Self-Mutilation

 Sex

 Sin

 Spiritual Life

 Stewardship

 Stress

 Substance Abuse

 Suffering

 Suicide

 Teenagers

 The Bible

 Thoughts

 Trusting God

 Wisdom

 Worship

List of Some of God's Attributes

 

 

List of God's Attributes (author unknown)

Infinitude of God - God is Infinite (limitless). God is not limited by anything outside of His character. This applies to all of God’s attributes. (Example: The goodness of God means God is infinitely good, God is also infinitely just, infinitely immutable, etc...) 

God is Personal - God is a self-conscious Being capable of thought, will, and interaction with His creation.

Creator - The whole of creation came into existence through the will and power of God.

Life Giver - All of life was and is created by God and is dependent on Him.

Immateriality of God-The state or quality of being immaterial. God’s existence is non-physical, and is distinct from His creation.

Self-Existence of God - God has always existed. God does not have a beginning.

Self-Sufficiency of God - God has no needs, cannot improve and does not change. We, on the other hand, as created beings rely completely on God for our every breath.

Omnipresence of God - God is present everywhere at all times.

Omnipotence of God - God can do all things that are consistent with His character. God is all powerful.

Omniscience of God - God has all knowledge.

Sovereignty of God - God created everything and therefore all things are under His sovereign control.

Eternality of God - The Eternality of God refers to his timeless nature. God had no beginning, and will have no end.

Immutability of God - The Immutability of God means He cannot change in His nature, Character or dependability.

Perfection of God - God is completely flawless, lacks nothing and has no moral imperfection.

Holiness of God - God is set apart from His creation.

Wisdom of God - (omnisapience) By His omniscience, God perfectly knows all possibilities and what would happen if they came to pass. By His omnisapience, His wisdom is perfect so that He knows which course of action is the best.
 
Wrath of God - God’s moral Character leads Him to judgment and punishment of unrighteousness.

Grace, Mercy and Love of God - God’s dealing with His people are based on His goodness, compassion, concern and generosity; instead of what we truly deserve.

Impassability of God - God is without passions. He is not overwhelmed by any emotion, he is not incapacitated or weakened or stifled by any event or any amount of grief or love. Rather, God is totally self-controlled. While God does grieve, and does passionately love, he does so completely on purpose.

God is Truth - Absolute truth has its foundation in God Himself, because God is truth.

Justice of God - All of God’s judgments are infinitely and perfectly just.

Freedom of God - The freedom of God, also called divine freedom, designates that God is free and "not constrained by anyone other than himself. He does what he pleases and therefore he is always free... He is not bound to the dictates of anyone else. He does make promises, to be sure, which obligate him to do certain things, but he makes those promises voluntarily."
 
Jealousy of God -Throughout the bible, from Genesis to Revelation God always draws his people's attention to himself - not to personal holiness or social justice or any of the other good things that follow from a good relationship with God, but to himself. When his people's attention wanders from him, he's quick to draw them back. This attribute of God is known as his ``jealousy''. We usually think of jealousy as an ugly emotion, as when we want the success or money that someone else has. But there is also an absolutely right kind of jealously, and that is the reluctance of someone to allow others what is rightly his and his alone. The  classic example is of a husband and wife - each of them is, in the right sense,  jealous for the other. Neither will share the other with anyone else: the very  idea is abhorrent to them. In the same way, God will not accept the idea that he  has to share our passion and affection with anyone or anything else.[1] 

Simplicity of God  - "The simplicity of God means that God is a unified being, without parts, – He is one essence. God is not composed of a variety of substances. In this sense he is different from humans who are made up of matter and spirit. Jesus is not an exception to this truth. While he took a human body while here on earth he is still absolute spirit in his essence.

Goodness of God - There is such an absolute perfection in God’s nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it, and nothing can be added to it to make it better.

Solitariness of God - There was a time when creation, even heaven, didn’t exist, but God’s glory did because He is from everlasting. There was a time when angels, nor humans were praising Him and He was still altogether wonderful. He is self-contained, self-sufficient, and  self-satisfied. He was under no compulsion to create out of necessity or deficiency. He created all things simply to display His glory. God could’ve very well chosen not to create and He still would be The Perfect One.[2]    

Veracity of God - This is that perfection of God in virtue of which He is  true in His inner being, in His revelation, and in
His relation to His people.  He is the true God over against the idols, knows things as they really are.

Decrees of God - The decree of God is His purpose or determination with respect to future things.

Foreknowledge of God - The fact is that "foreknowledge" is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to "foreknow," not the actions of those persons.[2]

Patience of God - the Divine patience is the power of control which God exercises over Himself, causing Him to bear with the wicked and forebear so long in punishing them. In Nahum 1:3 we read, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,"[3]

Immanence of God - The literal meaning of the immanence of God is "to be within" or "near" in relation to God's creation. Immanence is closely related to God's omnipresence, in that God is always present within the universe, though distinct from it. God is 'within' the universe in that God is its sustaining cause. God is active within His Creation. [4].

The Majesty of God -Sovereign power, authority, or dignity. It is also a reference to greatness or splendor of quality or character. 

Seven Spiritual Disciplines for Men in Biblical Counselling

Here is a short document showing what I encourage the men whom I counsel to practice as life disciplines. It is certainly not an exhaustive list but is a start to get men in the Word and demonstrate their desire to seek the Lord in their lives.

Seven Spiritual Disciplines for Men

1) Individual Bible Reading, Bible Study or Bible Plans,

2) Praying - Yourself and with Others,

3) Personal and Corporate Worship,

4) Confession and Repentance of sins,

5) Sacrifice of Time, Talent, and Treasure in service,

6) Submission to God and other authorities in all things,

7) Fellowship with other believers, in church and outside.

I counsel them to write a brief description of where they presently are and where they would like to be in these seven areas.

I also encourage them by saying that there is no condemnation in any of these if they are not presently part of their Christian walk. There is great opportunity to be blessed and to bless others as they participate or take hold of any or all of these.

Two Primary Scriptures For Biblical Counselling

Biblical counselling is really based on two significant Scriptures.

First is 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 which talks about COMFORT and second is James 5:16 which talks about CONFESSION and HEALING.

Praise God for His abundant Word on all of life's issues.

The Bible is Clear About KUWA.

The Bible is quite clear about the progress from knowledge to understanding, to wisdom and finally to application.

Proverbs has many verses about this. To me it comes down to KUWA... Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom, Application.

(K)NOWLEDGE... the awareness of facts.

(U)NDERSTANDING... the comprehension of such facts.

(W)ISDOM... the Biblical application of that knowledge and comprehension.

(A)PPLICATION... putting that wisdom into daily practice.

Many of us stop at knowledge. Others then do gain an understanding or comprehension of that knowledge. Fewer go on to gain wisdom from that understanding and even fewer actually apply the Biblical wisdom.

A simple example is our system of traffic lights.

KNOWLEDGE... there is a mechanical/visual system that controls traffic flow.

UNDERSTANDING... when a light in front of us is GREEN it is usually safe to GO or proceed. But when it is RED, we are to immediately STOP.

WISDOM... if we do not obey the lights, we can be in danger ourselves or be a danger to others. We can even face death and are certainly disobedient to the laws of the land. This is against Biblical teaching about authority.

APPLICATION... when I am driving, I am to stop at the red light and not proceed until is turns green. Even then, I am to observe from side to side to make sure it is safe to proceed, this is obedience to the traffic laws of the land. This is pleasing to the authorities and the Lord.

A wise-Christian, is one who is pleasing to the Lord, not because they know a lot of Bible verses (Knowledge). Nor even that they understand these verses or have gained Spiritual insight from these verses (Understanding), nor even know how to apply this wisdom (Wisdom)... but the one who lives out this wisdom in their day-to-day living for Christ (Application).

Try taking any Bible verse that has a promise, or command or wisdom about it and apply KUWA to it. Let me know how it works for you.

Examples: Prov 16:3, 1 Peter 5:7, Phil 4:6-8 etc, etc

Ian YBC