Christian Coaching and How It Can Benefit Your Life

Every so often in life, you may need something like a pep talk to encourage you to stay the course and tackle a difficult situation. That encouragement can come from someone in your life. It can also be the result of positive self-talk that gives you the needed focus and energy to keep going.

If you’ve ever watched a sports game, you will often see the visible results when a good coach fires up his team and encourages them to dig a little deeper and keep pushing toward victory.

Keeping that image of a good sports coach in mind, it’s like what a Christian coach can do in your life. There are many benefits you can reap from having a Christian coach.

What is Christian coaching?

It’s important to understand what Christian coaching is and isn’t to take full advantage of its benefits. In general, a coach is someone that comes alongside you. A coach helps you understand where you are and where you want to be.

He or she can identify how to get you where you want to go. The coach understands your strengths and weaknesses. Part of what a coach does is help you understand yourself better and use the resources at your disposal to achieve your goals.

Christian coaching frames the conversation in light of Scripture and the Christian faith. Christian coaching is rooted in the understanding that the Lord has a plan for an individual’s life, and He has equipped them uniquely for His purposes in their lives and the world. A Christian coach helps you to discover these plans and purposes and equips you as well as encourages you to fulfill them.

There are some similarities between Christian coaching and other activities such as mentoring, discipleship, and counseling. There are also some significant differences that make Christian coaching its own thing. Some of the similarities with these other activities and coaching include the following:

• These relationships are dedicated to listening to you and helping you achieve the highest potential that God has given you.
• The focus is on you, and the purpose is to move you forward in your life.
• There is a practical focus behind it all, to apply God’s truth to your life so that it makes a difference in your life.
• These relationships foster accountability in who God has created you to be.

There are some differences between Christian coaching and discipleship or mentorship, attending church, or going for counseling.

For instance, Christian coaching differs from counseling in that counseling is typically focused on a person’s past and how to find healing and recovery from dysfunction or other issues so that you can function well now. Christian coaching, on the other hand, looks forward and encourages you to cultivate workable strategies to overcome challenges you’re facing and achieve your goals and dreams.

Coaching also differs somewhat from counseling and mentorship because it’s not about having information imparted to you. Instead, coaching works from the inside-out to help you move forward in your life.

A good coach uses powerful questions to help his or her client gain clarity and insight, and the coach guides the client to find answers. A good coach will help a client identify thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, or actions that may be holding the client back from living in the fullness of what God has in store.

Coaching is different from attending church or being disciplined in important ways. This includes the fact that those other avenues of growth typically entail having new information imparted to you for your growth, and often also include spiritual direction for what you should do. These things are critical for growth as a Christian.

However, coaching focuses on drawing out what you already know and helping you use it to accomplish your goals. Coaching is more tailored, as it is directed by your specific needs, goals, personality, and strengths as well as weaknesses.

Benefits of Christian coaching.

Just like a personal trainer comes alongside you to help you meet your fitness goals, your Christian coach will help you accomplish all that God has in store for you. Your coach can walk alongside you, rekindling hope and helping you become more aware of God’s grace as you pursue His purposes and plans in your life, and fulfill the dreams He’s placed in your heart.

Additionally, your coach will help you plan effectively so that you become who God created you to be. Your coach will spur you on, encouraging you and holding you accountable to the plans you’ve made to walk in God’s purposes for your life. He or she will hold you up in prayer and remind you of your dreams so that you stay on task with your goals.

Other benefits of Christian coaching include the following:

• Your coach will keep you focused and help you walk in the vision and purpose God has for your life.
• He or she will help you become aware of the resources God has given you and put you on track to live out your full potential.
• Your coach will assist you in learning how to resolve challenges and use the resources you possess to great effect. As you grow in your ability to develop strategies to overcome obstacles and accomplish your goals, those skills can be transferred to other situations that come up in the future.

Areas improved by Christian coaching.

A Christian coach can help you identify what’s holding you back, help you become aware of your resources, and assist you in developing a workable plan of action to achieve your goals. Some of the areas that a Christian coach can help you with include the following:

• Helping you, your organization, or ministry develop a vision and purpose that aligns with God’s purposes and vision.
• Advancing your career to the next level, including transitioning to a different career or stage in your career.
• Growing in your marriage and cultivating a godly family life.
• Overcoming a specific challenge like exhaustion, stress, or feeling overwhelmed in your life.
• Improving your communication skills.
• Becoming more spiritually present and aware of God.

Christian coaching can help you in various areas of life by mapping out goals in those areas and helping you achieve them.

How to find your Christian coach.

Finding a Christian coach that you can work well with is like how you find other people with whom you want to work. Sometimes, you’ll go with a referral from someone that you trust, such as a friend or a colleague who has worked with a particular coach. You can also do some research online and see the various coaches.

As you do so, consider if the coach you’re looking to work with is reputable and accredited, whether through the Christian Coaches Network, or the International Coach Federation.

In addition to the above, you can ask yourself several questions as you consider who you want to work with. Below are a few questions to ask to help you decide which coach is right for you:

• Do you feel comfortable talking to this coach?
• How much coaching experience does the coach have?
• Are they certified? It’s important to know if the coach has been through a professional certification program and if he or she holds a coaching certification.
• Does the coach’s training and area of focus or niche fit your specific needs?
• What kind of career or ministry experience does the coach have, and does that align with what you’re after?

Many Christian coaches offer a free complimentary session so you can experience how they do things, get a feel for his or her personality and style, and see if you gel. Use that session to see if the coach you’ve chosen will work well for you.

Working with the right coach for you will make the process much more enjoyable and effective. If you have obstacles you want to overcome, or if there’s an area in your life where you feel stuck and want to find a way forward, you should consider Christian coaching.