It is extremely disrespectful and wrong for a counsellor to base his counsel on what he thinks may be helpful. A wise counsellor will push his conclusions through many tests before he begins to offer his counselee instruction. This testing phase, this phase where the counsellor comes to understand the counselee’s difficulties properly in light of Scripture is the phase of interpretation.

Interpretation is best done by using a process, by which the information you have received from your counselee is analysed biblically. This will insure accurate and helpful counsel.

The first step in the process of interpretation is to take the information you have gathered from your counselee, and get to prayer with it. Consider it before the Lord, comparing the counselee’s present condition to the standard of the Bible. Ask the following questions:

• At what point is my counselee’s behaviour different from the Scriptural standard? How is this person behaving in an unbiblical way?
• In what ways do my counselee’s emotional responses differ from the Scriptural standard? How is this person responding emotionally in an unbiblical way?
• How is this counselee thinking about his current situation, what are his attitudes toward it and how is he interpreting it? How do these thoughts, attitudes and interpretations differ from the Scriptural standard? Are they the kind of thoughts, attitudes and interpretations we see in the Lord Jesus?
• What are this person’s desires, values, expectations and motivations? How do those compare with the Scriptural standard? Does he/she exhibit the kind of desires, values, expectations and motivations we see in the Lord Jesus?

To find this contrast is critical. To find this contrast is to find the specific point at which you can both offer hope and help to this particular person. Regardless of how far out he is from the biblical norm, in this contrast he will find God’s forgiveness for his sinful deviation, he will find new direction, he will find God’s empowering grace, he will find others involved in the same struggle who can help him.