Biblical counseling is a ministry of Christians to hurting and misguided people for the purpose of relational reconciliation with God and others. By applying Biblical truths to the daily problems of living, believers can learn to live their lives in a way that is pleasing to God. By exposing their problems to the Word of God, Biblical counselors seek to ensure that Christians are not "led astray with empty philosophy and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ." (Colossians 2:8). Biblical counselors seek to lovingly share one another’s burdens as God commanded in Galatians 6:1-10, and to "proclaim Christ, admonishing every man and teaching him with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ." (Colossians 1:28).

The essence of Biblical counseling is summarized in the Greek words noutheteo, which means to admonish and exhort, and parakaleo, to comfort, support, and encourage. The Apostle Paul commissioned Timothy and other disciples of the church to "reprove, rebuke, exhort, and teach with patience and instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2) Scripture repeatedly informs us of the responsibility of the Church to become equipped to counsel one another and to share one another’s burdens.