Help your counselee understand how the situations in their lives (influences) reveal the idols of their heart by discerning emotions and observing outward behaviors.

A life driven by emotions often leads to sinful reactions to situations. A life driven by the truth of God’s word leads to pleasing God and faithful living.

Every decision made is either to please God or please Self. There are only two options. Use this diagram to help your counselee evaluate what desires and motives are dictating their responses.

True repentance is much more than ‘I’m sorry’. Sin must be contemplated about how the sin is first against God and then others. It must be confessed completely down to the heart idols, and then change is produced as the Holy Spirit works in the repentant heart.

We have all sinned and we have all been sinned against. In either situation, as sinner or sinned against, you can choose to respond biblically or unbiblically. Help your counselee learn to honor God in their circumstances. This diagram is presented in Steve Viars book.

Help your counselee understand the role of the conscience and learn to discern what their conscience has been trained by. Did they learn to interpret what sin is from their parents, the world, or the Word of God?

How does bitterness grow? When we are sinned against, we have the choice to deal with it biblically and either confront or overlook. Or we can deal with it sinfully and allow bitterness to take root and grow.

Keep this picture on hand to get feedback from your counselee at the end of each session. This will help you, as a counselor, assess what you need to give thanks for, teach again, or correct.

Humility is having a right view of God and self. Our counselees need to understand that life is about God and His will, His purpose, and we are creatures designed to live in dependence and service to Him.

Anything apart from Christ is the wrong fuel. This gas example is aimed to help our counselees discern what it is that their life is driven by - is it an idol of work, success, reputation, approval, control, being a great parent, having godly children? Or are they aiming to please God above all?

Is your relationship built on reigning in your own kingdom as the sovereign who gets his way? Or are you building God’s kingdom and being a servant in your family, marriage, or friendship?

God has designed roles for men and women in marriage. Marriage is designed to function in God’s way. This simple diagram asks questions to help husbands and wives understand servant leadership and submission.

Our sin creates a separation between God and others. In order for true reconciliation to occur, repentance must be sought and forgiveness extended. The “wall” of separation comes down through the transaction of repentance and forgiveness.

Anxious thoughts can spiral out of control when we are doubting God’s sovereignty, goodness, and care. Understanding the significance of our thought patterns and learning to identify “lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God” will help your counselee take their thoughts captive and trust the Lord rather than give way to anxiety.

We choose how we respond to temptation. We can help our counselees learn to flee temptation at the level of desires and thoughts before the sin becomes outward action. Inward sin is still sin, but we must teach how to identity the sinful desires and repent at that level.

1 Corinthians 10:13 promises that God provides a way to honor Him and not sin when we are faced with temptation. We can choose the “way out” of temptation by being wise and depending on the Holy Spirit for grace to obey.

Jeremiah contrast two groups of people, those who trust in God and those who trust in self. By using a tree analogy, God’s word demonstrates that the “fruit” of our lives reveals what our hearts (or roots) are trusting in.

The Dynamic Heart (adapted from Jeremy PIerre’s book) demonstrates how the spiritual heart works in real life situations. This helpful diagram will give understanding to how our desires, emotions, and thoughts drive the will to respond.

Often believers who are struggling are believers who are living in isolation. God calls us to be in fellowship and this diagram uses scripture to explain the importance of belonging to a group of believers.

The gospel teaches that we are made righteous by Christ and given a heart to treasure Him as Lord and Savior as we behold His glory. The outflow of the gospel in our hearts is obedience. Obedience never comes first. This diagram is adapted from Joe Miller.

We must never take for granted what Christ has done for us and why Christ was the perfect sacrifice and atonement for sin. Counselees can pray through these eight truths each day to grow in their appreciation for Christ. This is a diagram by Joe Miller.

A life driven by the gospel makes one humble and the Holy Spirit produces that humility, character, obedience, and fruit that honors and glorifies God. Use this diagram with the eight gospel truths to remind your counselees it’s all about God. This is adapted from Rick Thomas.

While God looks at the heart, we are also embodied souls who weak and decaying bodies impact us spiritually. This diagram shows the influences that act on our hearts and gives a deeper understanding of how our counselees responses have formed habits over time. Use this diagram to ask deeper questions to seek to understand the root of the issues of the heart.

Sanctification is past, present, and future for the believer. Romans 8:30 shows us that all believers have already been glorified in heaven, even though that is a future event for us. This diagram shows that a genuine believer is being sanctified, but it is not a straight upward trend of less sinning. Believers do stumble and fall, but believers don’t wallow and give up. They repent and keep growing.

The three trees show the difference between a person trusting in the Lord and a person trusting in self. Much like the Jeremiah trees there are two types of people. The third tree adds the cross of Christ as the only way to know and trust in the Lord. I first saw this diagram in Tim Lane and Paul Tripp’s book.

This diagram shows the progression of a good desire to an idolatrous desire. Even a “good” desire, like having obedient children or being respected at work, can turn into a sinful desire when we are willing to sin to get our desired outcome. This is helpful for counselees to understand how their deceitful hearts can be idolatrous.

Circles of responsibility show us that when we try to take over God’s sovereign rule, we will experience fear, anxiety, frustration, and disappointment. Our desire to control people and situations demonstrates a lack in trust in a good and sovereign God. Our emotions reveal this desire for control.

God promises to use all things, difficult people, disease, traffic, other people’s sin, natural disasters, relationship conflict, and everything else, to transform His children into the image of His son. Use this diagram to help your counselee understand God’s purpose in what we consider “bad” circumstances so that they grow in trusting God’s good purpose. This diagram was created by Carson Heffner.

God has designed us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. Use this diagram to help your counselee assess their thoughts and see how scripture commands us to think.

The idols of comfort, control, approval, and power are the four main categories of idolatry. But the means people use to get those idols varies. One person may go to the well of comfort through the “bucket” of food or their iphone, while another person will go to the well of control with a bucket of food or phone. The idols of the heart display differently in different people. Using these four categories can be helpful to reach the root. Marriage may seem like an idol, but marriage is going to provide comfort or approval. A job may seem like an idol, but the job is going to feed a desire for power, control, or approval. This diagram is adapted from a Matt Chandler sermon.

When we idolize how people think about us or treat us, we are trapped to perform to their standards rather than God’s. However, in Christ, we are set free from needing others’ approval because we are accepted by what Christ has done for us. In a right relationship with God, we can love and serve others rather than worship them. This is adapted from Rick Thomas.

This diagram contrasts the person who views life through the truth of God’s word and so has a biblical view of difficult circumstances and the person who neglects truth and focuses on circumstances and then doubts God and has a warped image of Him. Use this diagram to show your counselee a biblical view of God’s sovereignty and purpose in suffering.

This diagram shows how the root of our behavior is our beliefs. Sin is rooted in unbelief. This is not just for unbelievers. Even believers fail to take God at His Word and trust His promises. Help your counselee see how doubting God’s goodness, faithfulness, sovereignty, love, justice, and any other attribute of God or His promises is the foundation of sin.

Right Caring is closely linked to Circles of Responsibility but deals with how we care for people. We can only love and serve others well when we submit to God’s word in ourselves and allow God to work on other people’s hearts. This is adapted from Rick Thomas.

Use this diagram in week one or two of counseling to give hope that God does change people. Using 1 Corinthians 10:13, this diagram shows that temptation is common, God is faithful, He provides a way out to honor Him. This diagram is from Brad Bigney.

This is another diagram for the early weeks of counseling. In marriage counseling, we must encourage both spouses to take 100% responsibility for their own sin and to keep their eyes on their own hearts. Finger pointing and blame shifting has no place in biblical counseling. This is a Brad Bigney diagram.

Matthew 7:24-27 describes two people, one who built his house on the sand and the other on rock. Both people hear the word of God, and both people experience the same circumstances. The difference is the “doing” the Word of God. Living as Christ the Rock calls us to live in the foundation for an enduring life.

Sad thoughts that are not challenged by the truth of God’s word and character lead to a deeper sadness, what the world calls depression. Helping our counselees see the path out of depression by taking their unbiblical thoughts captive to the truth of God sets them free to find joy again. We must learn to preach to ourselves rather than listen to ourselves.

As you plan out how you will take a counselee from session one to graduation, consider these components that are necessary to spiritual growth and change. This diagram is from Alex Croutworst.

The sanctification process is a life-long process. God has a purpose, plan, and promise in making us more like Christ. God uses time and trials to do His work. As we behold the glory of the Lord through the means of grace He gives believers, God brings to completion the work of sanctification as glorification in heaven.

Ephesians 4:22-24 is a key biblical counseling passage that demonstrates God’s design for change. We are to repent and put off our old nature, renew our minds in the Truth, and put on Christlikeness. You can help your counselee to understand this basic truth and teach them the importance of renewing their minds (see Romans 12:2 also).