Christian Counseling Must Utilize The True End of Guilt Which Is Contrition

The sting of guilt can drive one to many roads.  Christian Counselors want to ensure that guilt drives one to remorse in a healthy spiritual way.   Too many times,  guilt can drive one to the extremes of depression or suicide.  One merely needs to remember the sin of Judas and how guilt instead of bringing him back to Christ, misled him to despair.  Christian Counseling must always be alert adverse reactions to guilt.
Guilt is a good thing, at least initially.  Guilt is a natural reaction within a certain and well formed conscience.  Unlike doubtful or even ill formed consciences which guide the sinner away from guilt, a healthy conscience understands the nature of an evil action.  This type of conscience will constantly whisper into the inner soul of the sinner, reminding him of his offense.  Unable to escape the all present voice of truth, the sinner eventually faces his guilt with remorse and contrition.  This of course is the healthy and intended way by Our Lord to handle sin.  Guilt leads to contrition.
However, as noted above, sometimes guilt can lead to suicide or despair.  This is not the intention of guilt but a distortion of it by Satan.  The prince of lies will utilize a mechanism that is meant to bring one closer to God and sabotage  it.  The sinner then instead of seeking repentance will find despair or grow so weary from the constant guilt, that he will run away and flee this emotion.  The sinner will then find solace in false doctrines of indifferentism or attempt to justify one’s sin.
The inner conflict of guilt will drive some to conclude that such “actions” are incompatible with modern society or that such actions are not really that sinful.  Such false reactions to guilt will in turn damage the well serving conscience.  As time continues, the conscience itself will become distorted as the habitual sinful act continues.  No longer will the conscience diligently guard the soul from vice but will become lax.  Too many times we see modern psychology consider such inner conflict to be pathological–the moral conscience torn between an immoral act.  This is merely the battle that wages within the soul to conform to Christ, or the world!
Christian Counselors must also guard against the reaction of despair or the sin of Judas.  Some will not fall into the trap of indifferentism or escapism but Satan will guide them down the path of despair or unworthiness.  The person will become so tormented by the act committed that he or she will attempt to run from God in shame.  While not everyone will commit suicide, many will feel unworthy to pray or face God.  As one hides from the grace of God, they become spiritually lax.  Think how ironic it truly is that a soul that is sick to avoid its medication?  Instead of finding a cure, the soul instead becomes even more gravely ill and eventually could face spiritual death.
Hence, Christian Counseling must foster the use of guilt to help others find true remorse and contrition and to help the penitent avoid the traps of the devil who will misuse guilt to gain souls for himself.
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Mark Moran, MA

When Contrition Becomes Perfect

The state of contrition in which the soul no longer fears punishment but is genuinely hurt by the simple fact sin offends God is called perfect.  This form of perfect contrition does not come naturally but only through a relationship with Christ.  This relationship seeks out Christ for his own sake.   In seeking out Christ, a dualistic relationship forms between the soul and Christ.  First a relationship that acknowledges Christ as its king.  Christ is seen as part of the Trinity, and as that, the Creator of the universe.  In this regard, the soul trembles in holy fear of offending so awesome a Being and King.  While initially this contrition is of fear, it can also be of a loving fear that one would offend one’s holy Majesty via sin.
Yet beyond the grand image of God as the uncaused cause or as an omnipotent and omniscient being that we should tremble before, Christ allows a second relationship to develop that involves a real personal relationship.  It reveals the fatherhood of the 1^st Person and the brotherhood the human nature of Christ bestows upon us.  In this personal relationship, God interacts with us as a being that can be hurt.  Before, the Incarnation, God could only be “offended” via the injustice of sin, but through the incarnation, God can now suffer and be affected by our actions.  In this, our love becomes deeper and more personal and the contrition likewise becomes more personal.  Through our sins, we are now hurting God who has put on flesh to save us.  God feels rejection and abandonment through the Incarnation and opens his loving and sacred heart to us.  As in all loving relationships, the gift of love involves risk because it opens oneself to hurt and betrayal.  When we sin, we hurt and betray our Lord.  Through our sins, we scourge him.  Through our sins, the weight of the cross becomes unbearable and finally through our sins, we nail him to the cross.
When one experiences sorrow and pain after sinning because they realize they are crucifying Jesus, then they experience perfect contrition.  In this contrition, the person furthermore hopes to never sin again and also finds a deep pain when they see others offend God.
As union becomes more intimate with the Divine, these secrets are more perfectly revealed and as the soul exits the embrace of its beloved, the soul mourns the sins of the world as if pierced itself.  The love can become so burning that the soul wishes to suffer anything it can in union with Christ for reparation.
This intensive union brings the soul to states of happiness but also intense sadness. This union comes with its scars especially in a fallen world.  Unable to be completely absorbed via the beatific vision, the soul can still experience separation from the beloved and also feel the pain the smallest sin can cause God.  In this way, those who experience perfect contrition and form a higher union with God become pilgrims in a vast wasteland.  However, they find great joy in this journey because they realize they can help bring others to love God and offer up their own trials as well.
As counselors, we can always encourage perfect contrition via pious writings about the passion of our lord or reflections on sacred images that depict Christ’s death.  One should also encourage those who are struggling with temptation to imagine the face of Christ being slapped every time they enter into a sinful action.  Some fear temptation so much, that they would wish Christ to completely remove the occasion or temptation but it is through one’s victories over temptation that one gives Christ the greatest joy and satisfaction.  When one falls, they must get up again and offer tears and sorrow to their best friend and God.  Religious counselors need to emphasize this type of sorrow to their spiritual children who have offended God.

In conclusion, What is true love for God?  Imagine if you had a friend who was about to do something for you that would cost him everything.  His love for you is so great he will risk it all, but as a friend, you block his path and forbid him to carry on in this endeavor.  So should be the love one has for Christ when reflecting on his suffering.  While always grateful of the redemption and knowing we need it to be saved and share heaven with our beloved, can we honestly say to Christ, as he sweats blood in the garden, to “walk away” because we cannot bear the thought of one we love to die such a way—even though it will cost us everything?  If we could say that, then we truly understand love.
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If you are also interested in how to become certified in Christian Counseling, then please review the program.
The process to on how to become certified in Christian Counseling is a simple process that involves completing the core courses.  After completion of those courses, those seeking to learn how to become certified in Christian counseling can become eligible.

Mark Moran, MA, GC-C, SCC-C

Christian Counseling and the Number 40

The Lenten theme of “40” and “Desert” is a reoccurring theme. Let us today look at the time of Israel and the 40 years in the desert and see how we can utilize this concept with Christian Counseling Ideals.
For doubting God after the numerous miracles, Israel was punished with a wandering in the

desert for Forty years. This was even imposed upon Moses. Only children under the age of 21 of that sinful generation would be spared the denial of the Promised Land. During this time, the Jewish people under the guidance of Moses wandered the desert for an additional Forty years. It would be under Joshua that they would eventually enter into the Holy Land.
Here we see two motifs that correlate with Lent. The idea of the number Forty being a period of repentance and the idea of a desert. The desert signifies the world and sin. In the temporal realm, Christian pilgrims on Earth suffer in the desert until the final reward of the Promised Land. As the faithful Israelites entered into the Promised Land after Forty years, so too shall the follower of Christ enter into the Promised Land which is Heaven.
This however is an Old Testament analogy of the desert led by the Prophet Moses, the next idea of “40” and the “Desert” is even more amazing via Christ in the New Testament. However, we will leave that for another day. In the meantime, it will suffice to meditate upon the wandering in the desert of the Jewish people and how it relates to our own wandering in the desert of the world.
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By Mark Moran, MA