Application | Theological Foundations | Part Four

The final step of Bible study is application, identifying steps of obedience that go beyond the intellectual grasp and into practical living. Inevitably, this means that I, Chelsy Reed, will step out into first-person narration to explain how this passage can apply to life and how Matthew 5:2-12 changes how I live personally. It will also be applied to counseling, specifically how Matthew 5:2-12 informs how I will approach sufferers and sinners. What help I offer must be rooted in God’s strength and word and not my own; thus, the application of scripture for the Christian counselor is paramount (NIV Bible, 2011). 

My Personal Application

Inevitably, we all have biases from the world that we know and experience. I grew up in a rural area with a nuclear family, middle-class, white, female, in public school, hard-working and high-achieving, and in the USA. I bring all of this with me to the text when I ask, “What does this mean for me?” The truth of living counter-culturally in the upside-down kingdom of God, however, permeates both time and space (Fee & Stuart, 2014). This means I must alter my approach in areas of life where I have great ambition and learn to put humility on and haughty attitudes and behaviors off (NIV Bible, 2011, Col 3:16-17).

For better or worse, it applies heavily in academics. I must bring humility to every paper grade, choosing to learn and not beat myself up for mistakes, especially foolish ones. I have to carefully check and guard my heart when participating in discussions and reading summaries, because my natural disposition is to get glory, and I know very well that glory doesn’t belong to me. When using spiritual gifts, I have to die to myself because if I do not, I will abuse those gifts in a perversion of their intended purpose. Finally, when I have an opportunity to admit that I do not know something and ask for another person's knowledge, I need to admit and ask, because in doing so I cultivate humility, block pride, and foster friendships (NIV Bible, 2011, Mat 16:24). 

Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash

How does this change how I live?

For me, this means consistently adjusting my lens for people. I would not have picked Simon Peter or Big James – two of Jesus’ innermost circle. I am biased towards intellectual and experienced people, and if I am not walking in the spirit, I am impatient with those lacking in these areas. I would have given Andrew and Philip more credit for being John the Baptist’s followers, but what of the rest, would I have prayed all night long, or chosen based on their curriculum vitae? (NIV Bible, 2011, John 1:35-44). This means if I had gone with my successful American-driven biases, I probably would have been looking for disciples from among the people who were responsible for killing Jesus, the Pharisees. Blessed are the poor in spirit. I would have fallen down on the first beatitude (NIV Bible, 2011, Mat 5:2-12).

Applications for Counseling

Coming off of my failure to elevate the poor in spirit, it would be folly if I didn't actively ask God to check my heart in this particular area when it comes to clients. I have developed strategies to cater to client needs versus counselor preference. In every intake session, I strategically ask, “What sort of learning style do you have? Do you prefer to read hard copy, digital, or listen to books? What were your best and favorite subjects in school? Why did you like them? Do you journal, or do you keep a digital journal?” By choosing to meet people where they are and adapting myself to them, God has grown me in humility, teaching ability, and patient pacing (Vroegop, 2019, Chapter 1-4).

With my counselor’s hat on, approaching with mercy is generally much easier because it is critical in building a therapeutic alliance, especially in the early sessions. Exceptions to this natural ease are swiftly encountered in marriage intake forms or when working with minors and their parents. Counselors find it quite easy to read a marriage form, keeping a mental tally of which spouse is the biggest problem in the marriage, even though we know it is never that simple. Cases that present with infidelity force counselors to rely on God’s mercy and his ability to deliver righteous justice with his methods and timing while caring for the sufferers in the room and seeing them as enslaved to their sin and in need of a liberator. Working with minors and parents also presents similar potential for taking sides; this practice often causes progress to stall because we become focused on things we cannot affect (existing relational dynamics and expectations) instead of moving forward prayerfully. Jesus is for everyone. He calls the poor in spirit to serve in his kingdom; far be it from me to refuse them at my door. 

Finally, Matthew 5:2-12 applies to helping a hurting person with a solution to their pain. This text is one I have often used to demonstrate Jesus’ agenda for his kingdom people. He accepts our emptiness, verses 2-6, and takes it upon himself to fill those places with holiness. He observes the fullness of the Spirit working in us and fanning into the flame the outworking of our sanctification to bless our neighbors, and rewards those choices with spiritual blessings in the heavenly places (NIV Bible, 2011, Ephesians 1:3). The posture of Jesus’ heart is so crucial for clients to see and understand if they are going to approach his throne in confidence. There will be times in our client’s pain and suffering when we cannot give them justice or relief from grief, but we know the one who can.

Conclusion

In many ways, Matthew 5:2-12 is a great equalizer among believers. We want all these blessings to be true for us, but we are also admonished to live worthy of the blessings. I am comforted and confronted by this passage, seeing places where God has brought me to another degree of sanctification and where I’ve walked in my own strength and not the Spirit. Because I can be both comforted and confronted by this passage, I can also care, comfort, and confront in counseling by merely reading it and asking, “What do these things look like in your life?” I will also strive to live these out in counseling; to be merciful, pure in heart, and we can do it because it has been done for us, it is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast (NIV Bible, 2011, Ephesians 2:8-9). 

---

Note: The following document was written in 2025 as part of my coursework in a class called "Theological Foundations for Counseling" at Colorado Christian University in pursuit of a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's Degree (CHMC). Brevity was required. There were four parts that all exclusively focus on this small part of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:2-12.

References

Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to read the Bible for all its worth: Fourth edition (4th ed.). Zondervan Academic.

NIV Bible. (2011). Zondervan.

Reed, C. J. (2025). Theological Foundations Portfolio [Unpublished manuscript]. Colorado Christian University. https://www.creedcounseling.online/blog

Vroegop, M. (2019). Dark clouds, deep mercy: Discovering the grace of lament. Crossway.