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Freedom always comes with a choice. It allows us to choose to truly love God, but it also gives us the capacity to make wrong and harmful choices. This week, Gary Wilkerson, Dr. Mark Mayfield and Dr. Dan Allender discuss the role that freedom plays in our lives and how suffering can be more beneficial than we may realize.
DISCLAIMER: The advice discussed in this podcast episode is not a replacement for professional counseling.
Key Points from the Podcast
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We were not meant to experience suffering, pain or death but it is a reality we must learn to courageously engage if we want to flourish.
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There is no possibility of love without freedom. Love cannot be constrained by obligation or fear.
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“Freedom from” is only one side of the coin. The other side is “freedom to”—care for the poor, clothe the naked, feed the hungry.
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We were meant to delighted in, not for what we do but for just being, and honored, for who we are becoming even amid our failures.
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No one escapes living in a fallen world. We will all experience and be affected by trauma. No one is exempt from being harmed and doing harm.
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Dan Allender discusses how trauma can make us feel like orphans, strangers, or widows.
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Healing from our wounds opens the doors that lead us into being priestly, prophetic, and kingly in a way that reveals something about the glory of Jesus.
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Most of us want to avoid suffering, but our times of hardest struggle are often the sweetest and deepest times we have with Jesus.
Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast
Isaiah 61:3
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast
Episodes in this podcast series:
About Dan Allender
Dr. Dan Allender is a pioneer of a unique and innovative approach to trauma and abuse therapy. For over 30 years, the Allender Theory has brought healing and transformation to hundreds of thousands of lives by bridging the story of the gospel and the stories of trauma and abuse that mark so many.
In 2011, The Allender Center was founded by Dr. Dan Allender and Rebecca Allender, MA, alongside Cathy Loerzel, MA, with the support of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology to cultivate healing and train leaders and mental health professionals to courageously engage others’ stories of harm.
Dan and his wife Becky live on Bainbridge Island, where they enjoy time with their grandchildren and their three adult children, Annie, Amanda, and Andrew. [full bio]
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About Dr. Mark Mayfield
Dr. Mayfield is a former pastor, a licensed professional counselor (LPC), a board-certified counselor, and founder and CEO of Mayfield Counseling Centers.
He has more than 14 years of professional counseling experience in clinical, judicial, and faith-based counseling settings across a wide range of patient demographics. Mayfield has professional experience in treating and addressing anxiety, depression, and PTSD, substance abuse, domestic violence, self-injury, and suicide. He is passionate about the integration of faith and mental health.
Dr. Mayfield recently launched his book, titled “HELP! My Teen is Self-Injuring: A Crisis Manual for Parents” which addresses his own suicide survival story, self-injury, and how to help your child who might be going through this. His second book “The Path Out of Loneliness: Finding and Fostering Connection to God, Ourselves, and One Another”, published through NavPress/Tyndale House, released September 2021.
He has been featured in prominent media outlets including Woman’s Day, Hello Giggles, NBC, Reader’s Digest, Byrdie, and more. Dr. Mayfield is on a list of mental health professionals that was invited to the White House in December 2019 and has had periodic calls with the White House to discuss mental health in America