The Effects of Sin and the Need for Biblical Counseling

We live in a fallen world. I don’t think there is any doubt that the world is full of problems. The Bible teaches that the sin is the cause of our problems. All human beings are affected by sin. We are affected by sin in a general sense. We live in a fallen world. We get old, we get sick, and life is never quite as good as it could be because of the problems we face due to sin. We are also affected by sin in two specific senses. Sometimes we sin. We sin against other people and reap the consequences of our own sins. Sometimes other people sin against us and, though it was not our personal sin, we are suffering the consequences of someone else’s sin.
We can react to sin in any number of ways. We may become anxious and suffer from anxiety. We may give up hope and succumb to depression. We may get angry and respond to sin with sin. We may just give up and give in.
People who believe in Jesus do not want to give up and give in, do not want to be angry all the time, and do not want to live in fear. Enter biblical counseling. How do we follow Jesus when we are anxious? Can we read Matthew 6 where Jesus tells us not to worry, and or be anxious about anything, and find comfort rather than judgment? How do we follow Jesus when we are on the precipice of deep depression? How do we not give up and give in to hopelessness? How can we make sure we don’t respond to a problem with anger and make the problem worse? Sin is the critical issue. The Bible addresses sin and the suffering it creates as a problem of the heart. The Bible is also clear that we need Jesus to be forgiven for our sins and to change our hearts. Through the transforming of our hearts, we can follow Jesus in the midst of this fallen world, and following Jesus better is the ultimate goal of biblical counseling.