Friendship Counseling: Jesus' Model for Speaking Life-Words to Hurting People
BACK: What Can I Say? When a friend?s in pain, what  do you say? Do you stall and sputter, like a foot just landed in  your mouth? Most of us grope for the right words, feeling  unequipped for the task. But we don?t need to respond that way. The  words of a friend??your words??can inspire hope and healing.  Friendship Counseling provides strugglers with meaningful,  life-changing assistance. Modeled after Christ?s interaction with  suffering people, Friendship Counseling will help you offer others:  ?Permission to express doubts, anger, and questions ?Hopeful "life  words" that inspire ongoing healing ?Ways to build deeper character  and inner strength ?Inspiration to draw closer to God, despite the  pain ?Encouragement to change personally and relationally "People  in pain need a spiritual guide who knows them, someone who knows  how to come alongside and offer hope and direction," explains  Huggins. "They need a guide who relates to them the way Jesus  does." Using friendship counseling, that "someone" can be you.  FRONT FLAP: When friends hurt, you want to help. But it?s hard to  know what to say, especially when you?ve never trudged in their  shoes. Trying to help others, do you ever respond in these ways?  ?Quoting Bible verses about suffering ?Explaining the reasons for  their struggle ?Trying to discover what they did to cause the pain  ?Talking about your troubles instead of listening ?Fixing the  problem so they won?t suffer anymore According to Kevin Huggins, a  seasoned counselor, these responses may stem from good intentions,  but they don?t help the hurting find the resources to grow and  serve God through their struggles. Instead, people in pain need  "life words"??words that sensitively point strugglers toward  building character and drawing closer to God, despite the agony.  They offer the safety and compassion that lead to true change  rather than to the masking of feelings. If you want to inspire  positive change, offer words that heal instead of hurt. Give people  the gift of friendship counseling.