Confessional theology is what you intellectually confess to believe. Functional theology, on the other hand, reflects what you genuinely believe about God, as shown in your imagination, desires, words, tone, emotions, choices, and actions.

Aligning your confessional and functional theologies is difficult, and this misalignment causes many problems, such as addictions, anxiety, bitterness, depression, overthinking, shame, hopelessness, and confusion about your purpose.

When your confessional and functional theologies are misaligned, you are like a wandering, withering, fruitless vine in need of realignment.

Jesus articulates this reality when He says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” He instructs, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:1, 4-5 ESV).

Notice that Jesus says, “abide in Me.” To abide in Jesus means loving Him and His Word with all your heart. Biblical counseling supports this process, helping you remain connected to Jesus. As you do, you will witness Him developing the Fruit of the Spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

With the careful hands of truth in love, biblical counseling gently uproots anger, anxiety, bitterness, sinful desires, and misplaced hopes–things that cause us to grow misaligned from God–replacing them with seeds of biblical truth that flourish upward in faith along the trellis of trusting God.

Moms out there, confessional theology is what you intellectually confess to believe. Functional theology, on the other hand, reflects what you genuinely believe about God, as shown in your imagination, desires, words, tone, emotions, choices, and actions.

Take a moment to consider how well your confessional and functional theologies align. How closely do they match up? Reflecting on this can provide valuable insights.

Misaligned confessional and functional theologies occur when your heart strays from living out biblical truth. It wanders into worry, fear, overthinking, guilt, anger, shame, and exhaustion rather than resting in alignment with Jesus and biblical truth. Yet there is hope!

Biblical counseling can help realign your faith and trust in God so that your wandering heart clings to God’s Word and love, abides in Jesus, and bears much fruit.