Soul care and counselling; comforting the troubled; giving and receiving spiritual advice; the cure of souls.
- Smalltalk is Counsel David Powlison
When I use the word counseling I don’t mean a Ph.D. in psychotherapy in an office. I mean the way the Bible talks about counseling, which is the effect of the tongue, and …
- The Grace of Perception Thomas Brooks
The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell more upon one another’s graces than upon one another’s weaknesses and infirmities. It is sad to consider that …
- Our Constitutional Temperament John Newton
I would observe farther, that our spiritual exercises are not a little influenced by our constitutional temperament. As you are only an ideal correspondent, I can but …
- Love is Vulnerable C. S. Lewis
There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of …
- Quarrel with your own heart! Augustine of Hippo
Prefer even vicious people to be cured rather than condemned …. If you want to quarrel with your enemy, quarrel first with your own heart. Quarrel, I tell you. Quarrel …
- Sing more! Charles Spurgeon
We need more singing!
Sing more and murmur less!
Sing more and slander less!
Sing more and cavil less!
Sing more and mourn less!
- Quiet, Peaceful, and Godly Lives R. Scott Clark
There aren’t many books being written about the seven steps to living quiet, peaceful, and godly lives, and yet that’s the explicit, unequivocal teaching of the word of …
- Leisure to Look Up to Heaven Thomas Brooks
King Henry the Fourth (of France) asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed the great eclipse of the sun, which had lately happened. No, said the duke, I have so much to …
- On the Loss of a Beloved Pastor John Newton
Your beloved pastor has died, but he has only gone a little before you. We expect and hope to follow him soon. It will be a joyful meeting, when we shall part no more. In …
- Thinks Ill of You Charles Spurgeon
Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him.
For you are worse than he thinks you to be.
- Gentle Spirit Required for Correcting Others John Calvin
No man is prepared for chastising a brother till he has succeeded in acquiring a gentle spirit.
- Babbling Fool Proverbs 10:8
The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
- Heavenly Hosts Keeping Watch John Calvin
For if the fact that all of the heavenly hosts are keeping watch for his safety will not satisfy a man, I do not see what benefit he could derive from knowing that one …
- Easy thing to be a Christian? Richard Sibbes
It were an easy thing to be a Christian, if religion stood only in a few outward works and duties, but to take the soul to task, and to deal roundly with our own hearts, …
- Sharpest Trials from Dearest Comforts John Newton
It is necessary that our sharpest trials should sometimes spring from our dearest comforts, else we should be in danger of forgetting ourselves, and setting up our rest …
- Feel the Pain John Owen
Any member who does not feel the pains of his fellow members is rotten and ready to be cut off, for fear of infecting the body.
- Newton on Promises in Affliction John Newton
The far greater part of the promises in Scripture are made and suited to a state of affliction; and though we may believe they are true, we cannot so well know their …
- The Top of our Comfort Stephen Charnock
It is the top of our comfort that he is in heaven a pleader, as it was the foundation of our comfort that he was once on earth a sufferer.
- Paul's Willingness to Be Spent Apostle Paul
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.
- Come Soon! John Newton
…come up as soon as possible; and may the Lord bless you upon the road, and come himself with you. … I long for the time. How snugly shall we sit and smoke our pipes, …
- What Will It Profit a Man? John Newton
What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, …
- A Message from God John Newton
When I hear a knock at my study door, I hear a message from God. It may be a lesson of instruction; perhaps a lesson of patience: but, since it is His message, it must be …
- The Longsuffering of God John Newton
[The Lord] knows our frame and how to bear with us though we can hardly bear with ourselves, or with one another.
- Psalms for Dark Times Charles Spurgeon
When it is very dark with us, let brave spirits say, ‘Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.’
- Pray for Sinners Thomas Watson
If you pity an ox or an ass going astray, will you not pity a soul going astray from God, who has lost his way and his wits, and is upon the precipice of damnation.
Nay, …
- Use of Creation William Greenhill
Six ways that we can use God’s creation well and right.
Use all things for the end that God has made them [for the glory of God]. Walk with God in the use of the world …
- The Benefits of a Resident Minister John Newton
A minister, who lives among his people, who sees and converses with them frequently, and exemplifies his doctrine in their view by his practice, having knowledge of their …
- Wait His Leisure Georg Neumark
Only be still, and wait his leisure In cheerful hope, with heart content To take whate’er thy Father’s pleasure And all deserving love hath sent; Nor doubt our inmost …
- Love Be Our Guide John Owen
Let pity, not envy… mercy, not malice… patience, not passion… Christ, not flesh… grace, not nature… pardon, not spite or revenge…
…be our guides and companions in our …
- Above All, Humility Augustine of Hippo
Not that there are no other precepts to give but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are meaningless.
- The Greatest Kindness Matthew Henry
The greatest kindness we can do for those that are fearful and faint-hearted is to pray for them, and so to recommend them to the mighty grace of God.
- Warfield to Franklin George Whitefield
As you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent unprejudiced pursuit and study the mystery …
- Let Your Joy be in God Matthew Meade
Whatever you enjoy in the world, yet let your joy be in God. Have you riches, honors, pleasures, children, health, beauty, etc.
- God For Me William Gurnall
Satan hates me; Satan accuses me; Satan temps me.
Conversely, you lose much comfort when you fail to see the promises and providence of God as available for your own …
- Building Our Kingdom Paul David Tripp
It is when we love God more than we love ourselves and when we quit building our own little kingdom and start seeking his that we will love our spouse.
- Joy and Sorrow John Calvin
Though joy overcomes sorrow, yet it does not put an end to it, for it does not divest us of humanity.
- Family Reformation Richard Baxter
Family reformation is the easiest in the most likely way to a common reformation; at least to send many souls to heaven, and train up multitudes for God, if it reached …
- Chew the Cud Richard Baxter
Chew the cud, and call up all when you come home in secret, by meditation preach it over yourselves. If it were coldly delivered by the preacher, do you consider the …
- Singles in the Service of God Richard Baxter
O that single persons knew (for the most part) the preciousness of their leisure, and how free they are to attend the service of God, and learn his Word, in comparison of …
- Serious Meditation on Truth Thomas Brooks
Remember, it is not a hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bees …
- Be Still My Soul Katharina Von Schlegel
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend. Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
- All Tears Will be Wiped Away John Newton
Yes, madam, though every stream must fail, the fountain is still full and flowing. All the comfort you ever received in your dear friend was from the Lord, who is …
- Divine Dating Chad Van Dixhoorn
And George Walker, yet another member of the [Westminster] assembly who wrote on the topic, had hard words for weak men who told ladies to marry them because of ‘pretense …
- Sorrows and Joys of One Another Matthew Henry
True love will interest us in the sorrows and joys of one another, and teach us to make them our own.
- Good Counseling is Wise Love David Powlison
Wise counseling is essentially a way of loving another person well. It is a way of speaking what is true and constructive into this person’s life right now. Good …
- A Surgeon's Skill John Newton
If people are satisfied of a surgeon’s skill and prudence, they will not only yield to be cut at his pleasure without pretending to direct him where, or how long he shall …
- Loveth Thee Best George Swinnock
He that hates thy sins most, loveth thee best.
- Spiritual Mindedness John Owen
Let no one suppose that spiritual mindedness comes accidentally. It is just as likely for poor person to expect to be rich without effort, before weak person to be strong …
- Observe their Graces Richard Baxter
Observe their graces more than their infirmities. You cannot love them unless you take notice of that goodness which is their loveliness. Overlooking and extenuating the …
- Do You Mortify? John Owen
Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.