Qualifications of a Biblical Counselor

Counseling is not a discipline like dentistry or medicine which depends upon a very ridge, technical knowledge. Rather, counseling is mainly a helping relationship between people who care. Counseling can happen and does happen on many levels.

Counseling is not just relationship, there is also technical knowledge to consider so that the counselor is confident that he or she will be of help to the counselee and the counselee knows that true help is available.

Effective Biblical counseling requires SEVEN QUALIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS, to see fruit in the area of setting people free. Free from sin-filled practices being carried out by the counselee.

Counseling is not for the élite or the special ones in a congregation but is really encouraged in Scripture to be practiced by the Christian community for believers who love one another and desire each one to be set free.

We can remember the seven qualifications of a biblical Counselor but starting each qualification off from the letter “C”.

Let’s look at each one of these seven qualifications:

CHRISTIAN - He/She Must Be a Christian

The first essential qualification is that the counselor himself/herself must be a genuine Christian — a true believer in Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 2:14, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." An unsaved counselor is precisely what Jesus describes in Lk. 6:39: "Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?"

CONVINCED - He/she must be absolutely convinced and convicted that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant, all-sufficient Word of God.

COMPETENT - He/She Must Be Competent. He/she must be competent to open the Word of God to others. He/she must have an extensive knowledge of the Scriptures (Rom. 15:14) which enables him/her to find Biblical solutions for the problems of life. While a seminary degree is not required to be a competent Biblical counselor, a working knowledge of the Bible is. By the way, a counseling degree from a university or seminary is no guarantee of a counselor's competence. 

COMMON SENSE - He/She Must Have Common Sense Derived from the Word of God. He/she must have a good measure of divine wisdom, as Paul writes in Col. 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom." Godly wisdom is a balanced combination of knowledge, experience, and common sense directed by and under the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

CHARACTER - He/She Must Have Consistently Godly Character. Unlike the world, which believes it is possible to compartmentalize a person's character and their job performance, as though one does not affect the other, a Biblical counselor must understand that his/her own personal life has a direct bearing on his ability to minister effectively to others.

COMPASSION - He/She Must Have a Heart of Compassion. A Biblical counselor has the ability to relate to others in a compassionate way that encourages appropriate change. While genuine Biblical counseling often involves the confrontation of sinful behavior and attitudes, the counselor's own demeanor, his/her tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and body language; must draw a person toward the loving work of the Holy Spirit, rather than repelling him.

COMMUNICATE - He/She Must Be Able to Communicate. Paul describes this as "soundness of speech that cannot be condemned" (Titus 2:8). A competent Biblical counselor will learn how to explain Biblical commands and principles in ways that the counselee can understand and apply. This qualification for Biblical counseling is described in Isa. 50:4, "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary."

Remember, You Are Not the Real Counselor

Every genuine Biblical counselor is comforted to realize that he or she is not the one who will accomplish healing in the heart of the person who comes to the office for help. Ultimately, only the Holy Spirit is able to produce the healing your counselee so desperately seeks, as He applies His own Word to His children.
 
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would assist in the work of counseling when he said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (Jn. 14:26).
 
Though a counseling session must inevitably draw to a close, the counsel of the Holy Spirit continues to be available to the Christian, day or night. As Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever" (Jn. 14:16).