As part of a 4E Ministry Training Strategy Questionnaire that I distributed, two dozen best practice churches answered the question:
“What are the foundational Scriptures upon which you founded and based your biblical counseling ministry?”
Collated below are the fifty passages listed most often.
- Psalm 1:1-2
- Proverbs 15:23
- Proverbs 18:13, 21
- Proverbs 25:11
- Proverbs 27:6
- Isaiah 9:6
- Isaiah 11:1-4
- Isaiah 55:11
- Matthew 22:34-40
- Matthew 28:16-20
- Mark 12:30-31
- John 1:1-18
- John 6:32-33
- John 8:38
- John 10:10
- John 14:15-31
- John 17:1-26
- Acts 2:40-47
- Acts 20:17-38
- Romans 6:1-14
- Romans 8:1-39
- Romans 12:1-2
- Romans 12:15
- Romans 15:14
- 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-11
- 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 and 4:16-18
- Galatians 6:1-5
- Ephesians 1-3
- Ephesians 4:11-16
- Ephesians 4:17-24
- Ephesians 4:29
- Philippians 1:9-11
- Colossians 1:25-29
- Colossians 2:1-10
- Colossians 3:1-16
- Colossians 4:2-6
- 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (all of 1 Thessalonians 2)
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14
- 2 Timothy 2:2
- 2 Timothy 2:24-26
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
- Hebrews 3:7-16
- Hebrews 4:12-16
- Hebrews 10:19-25
- James 4:1-4
- 1 Peter 2:5-9
- 2 Peter 1:3-4
- 1 John 4:7-21
Biblical Categories and Concepts
Many participants not only included specific verses, but also categories or concepts. Collated below you will find those that were listed the most often.
- One-Another Verses
- Body Life Verses
- Verses on Comforting the Suffering
- Verses on Counseling the Sinning
- Verses on the Sufficiency of Scripture
- Verses on Sanctification and Growth in Grace
- Verses on Listening
- Verses on Seeing God’s Eternal/Gospel-Centered/Christ-Centered Perspective
- Verses on Spiritual Formation/Spiritual Discipline
- Verses Using Noutheteo (Greek for confronting out of concern for change)
- Verses Using Parakaleo (Greek for comfort, encourage, console)
Join the Conversation
What biblical passages, categories, or concepts would you add to this list of foundational biblical counseling verses?
