Is IFS Compatible with Christianity? The Integrated Clinician’s Dilemma

Camille McDaniel (01:32)
Welcome back to another episode of Christ in Private Practice. In today’s episode, we are going to continue something that we started several episodes ago, where we actually slow down and we examine a counseling modality through both a clinical and a biblical lens. And we are going to be doing that just so that we…

know what’s really going on, can it be integrated with our faith and our walk with Christ so that what we are doing in our counseling practice aligns with our beliefs. We don’t want to be in conflict and we want to be able to find out what to do if there are conflicts and to ask better questions as we move forward.

So today we are going to be talking about one that I know you’ve heard of before and that is internal family systems which is also known as IFS and I know some of you all are like, huh, yes, I either have heard about it or I use it and maybe this will also be new to you but.

What I wanna do first is take a moment to kind of explain what I hope that we’re going to get out of our time together today. And then I will explain what IFS actually teaches. ⁓ And I’m going to be using the language that the founder of IFS, Dr. Richard Schwartz uses because I wanna be clear on where I’m getting my sources. Thankfully, Dr. Schwartz

actually has quite a few videos that are free to view online. ⁓ Some of them might be considered like training length. I don’t think it goes to all the levels because IFS has different levels of training, but I have seen that he’s had some basic things on there and then he’s had some short form videos, but he has quite a bit online for anyone who wants to take a look.

So by the end of our time together in this episode today, ideally we will all walk away from this conversation being able to understand how IFS sees human nature, how IFS sees just ⁓ existing and just being from its perspective, what that looks like.

will be able to distinguish between the IFS theory and what it claims about human nature and IFS and how some of the therapy might be conducted, not necessarily talking about.

different scripts that you would use in session, but more so like what are all the things that or some of the things, most of the things that a counselor who is using IFS might look at. We wanna be able to identify where there is alignment ⁓ and or misalignment between IFS and the Bible. We wanna be able to look at common.

Christian adaptations if you are going to use IFS for yourself and use it in a way that you don’t then come in conflict with your faith in Christ. So we’re going to do all of that in this episode and ideally we will do it in good time. let’s start from the beginning. What is IFS? Okay, so. ⁓

Internal Family Systems or IFS for short was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s.

Dr. Richard Swartz was originally trained as a family systems therapist. And he has been on record saying, and I believe this was also in one of the videos that you can find online, he has said that the nature of the mind is to be separate and not whole. And according to Dr. Swartz, the mind was never meant to be unified into a single integrated entity. Instead, it actually naturally operates through

roles or parts that serve different functions and he also states that he felt this is where in his view the dissociative identity disorder community got it wrong. ⁓ The assumption he says was that like fragmentation of the mind was the problem and that healing meant to become one.

That’s what the DID community sees. But Dr. Schwartz actually argues instead that separation of the mind is normal. And pathology actually comes from conflict and imbalance, not from having different roles. ⁓ In IFS, healing doesn’t mean eliminating parts. It actually means that all the parts agree to work together.

So while working with clients, Dr. Schwartz actually observed that people frequently described their their inner experiences.

as if there were aspects of them that had distinct roles. So for example, when having sessions with his clients, he would just notice that on different occasions, different clients would just describe their experiences and say things like, part of me wants to quit, or another part of me feels ashamed, or part of me is furious.

And so rather than him kind of treating what they were saying as like a metaphor for maybe, you know, something that they were experiencing, Dr. Schwartz developed like a full psychological model around what he had heard them saying over time. So if we look at IFS,

and look at what are the defining claims that IFS is making. ⁓ Here are a couple of them. That the nature of the mind is to be separate, not whole. ⁓

it is foundational, this like claim. This is like the foundation of IFS. So it asserts that multiplicity is not pathological, but it is natural. It is the normal structure of the human being, the human nature. And even in individuals that are diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, ⁓

They are really not categorically different from the rest of humanity. They just simply exhibit more extreme manifestations of what is universal for all people. So IFS actually is a bit more than just a technique, but it is a theory about human nature and how humans operate in this world.

Okay so hopefully that kind of gives a bit of ⁓ a starting foundation ⁓ for you to kind of like keep on going and for those who have taken the training you may have also heard this in your training because this is what Dr. Schwartz has said himself. Obviously everybody didn’t get trained under Dr. Schwartz but maybe your trainers in whatever training you took may have shared some of this background history.

Now we want to go into ⁓ IFS and the the science and study of human beings or the anthropology and then we want to go into the the focus on the nature of existing or just being which ⁓ in my studies

about this I found is like a branch of metaphysics which is called ontology. So ⁓ ontology is the branch of metaphysics that is concerned with the nature of just existing or just being and let’s look at what IFS actually claims about both of those things. So ⁓ for IFS as it relates to just the study of human beings, the the view that IFS has of human nature and what it teaches is that

humans are internally multiple by design and that sub-personalities, these sub-personalities which are called parts, they are innate to human beings and trauma does not create parts. It actually just pushes those parts into extreme roles. Something else that it…

claims about human nature is that all parts are inherently good at their core and there are no bad parts. think people have heard of that ⁓ a lot.

So then in addition to that, they have a core self and that’s present in every person. And in IFS, pathology is not about internal corruption, but it is more so about the distortion that is caused by burdens. And burdens are usually things that happen ⁓ outside of the self. This is outside of the human being and those burdens

then that occur start to agitate the internal parts and then those parts may act in certain ways to survive. But those parts are inherently good and when they act out, they are only acting to survive based on burdens that are happening outside in the environment around the person.

and if we take a look at what IFS says about the just the nature of existing, what existing means as far as your psyche, then IFS actually asserts that parts are real internal entities. So they are very real, these are not just metaphors and that parts can carry burdens. Burdens again like I just said originate from external

sources that could be a trauma that has taken place, that can be some type of attachment issue, attachment injury, it can be something cultural, it can be something in family line, you know, there can be anything can, you know, originate outside as a burden that can then impact the parts.

Then you have the self and the self is universal and it is undamaged. Okay, so the self is, you know, ⁓ really kind of the lead and and we’ll kind of talk about a little bit later but like when things are harmonious, everything comes underneath that self. But the self is ⁓ has healing capacity. So the self can actually heal, the self goes undamaged.

damaged. It is described ⁓ by Dr. Schwartz as the eight C’s. So the self has eight C’s that ⁓ I’ll go over right now as described by Dr. Schwartz and so that is calm,

The self is ⁓ compassion, curiosity, confidence, clarity, creativity, courage, connectedness. And the self is presented as like always present. So it’s always there. It’s never damaged. Again, remember IFS says there are no bad parts.

So the self is not ever damaged. It is just naturally wise and capable of leading the internal system. Remember, so the internal system, according to IFS, has multiple parts and the self can then lead the internal system. And this is the theoretical core of IFS. And so now when we want to take a look at like the next

stage we’re going to look at the the core structural elements of the IFS model. So how the model organizes the psyche and what are some of the things that are considered when you are you know doing therapy conducting therapeutic treatment with a client.

So IFS organizes internal experiences into three categories and they’re kind of broad categories but three categories nonetheless. So you have the exiles. These are the vulnerable parts that are carrying with them trauma, shame, fear.

those types of things that really kind of weigh heavily on those parts. And those parts are sometimes associated with being developmentally young, younger than stated age, if you will. And the exiles are oftentimes suppressed in order to protect the system, the internal system.

And then you have managers and the managers are protective parts. They are the ones that control things or they’re the planners or they strive to achieve and they’re evaluating things that are going on. They attempt to really prevent the exiles from being triggered. Because remember the exiles are the ones that carry the shame, the trauma, the fear.

the embarrassment, all of those heavier things. And the managers then are very proactive and protective.

trying to control and evaluate and strive to help the exiles to not be triggered. And then you have the firefighters. Okay, so the firefighters are reactive protectors and they act quickly to extinguish emotional pain. Now, they may extinguish emotional pain in a variety of ways. So it can be impulsivity, it can be addiction, it can be

dissociation, it can be, you know, ⁓ yelling, it can be a number of different things that the firefighters do in order to try to quickly extinguish emotional pain. So, all of the parts, remember, according to IFS, all the parts have positive intentions. Remember, no bad parts.

and the parts become extreme only due to burdens. Remember burdens are outside factors that impact the internal system and ⁓ the parts are not eliminated so you don’t get rid of any of the parts but the parts can transform.

So the therapeutic goals in IFS are to help the parts to kind of unblend from the self and

access self-leadership. Okay, so the self again is really like the lead here. So when there’s harmony, the parts are all like working well under the self. And another goal in IFS is to become unburdened, know, so release burdens that have been taken on and to restore internal harmony. And again, that’s not going to be ⁓

like wholeness as in like just one part. Instead, you’re still gonna have many different parts, you’re still gonna have multiplicity, but it just means that they are working together well under the self. So they are working in harmony together. Now, let’s take a look at…

where possibly IFS lines up with scripture. So…

There are, there’s an area where it may line up with the idea that there is internal conflict within us. So that is actually something that happens, right? Internally, we may be conflicted. So in the Book of Galatians, chapter five, 16, verse 16 through 17, and just so you know, I will be using a lot of scripture. I guess I should have said that before.

And here’s the reason why. Because I can talk to you today and tell you my opinion and tell you what I think and tell you all of those different things. But I like to just use the source. That’s why I…

started with what Dr. Richard Schwartz has said from for himself on videos that are freely available online to listen to because I don’t want to interpret, add my own spin to things. I want to hear exactly how the individual intended it to be used because they were the creator of this theory and now this theory is being widely used and I think you should hear from the creator

what they intended for their creation, right? And then when we talk about how does it line up or not line up with scripture, I’m gonna just go straight to the Bible. That way we are not going back and forth and people are you know able to have their own opinions but the word of God is just the word of God.

you know, and people can disagree. But then I think that honestly kind of then lends itself into an area where now if the word of God is presented and you still feel differently, that’s where maybe you and the Lord can kind of talk about your walk and what your walk looks like and what Christianity means to you or following Christ means to you. And I am aware that ⁓ while we may say, hey, I believe in Christ or I’m a Christian, I do know that that means different things.

to different people. So I figure that it’s just probably easier or maybe ⁓ maybe the best way to try to keep things as you know on the up and up and neutral as possible. When I say neutral, I mean taking out my own opinions by just using scripture. So

Let me start, since I have laid that out, let me go back and take a look at where IFS does align with ⁓ the word of God. So IFS talks about internal conflict. And the Bible,

also acknowledges that there are internal tensions within us. The book of Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 through 17 talks about that. It says, you know, ⁓ walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Right? So it’s like there is this struggle flesh and spirit are kind of you know at odds with each other and sometimes that has us in positions where the things we want to do we’re not doing.

You know, and so, and the things that we don’t want to do, we’re doing. But it does recognize here that there is an internal conflict. And IFS also recognizes there’s an internal conflict. And so now, let’s move on to some other distinctions. ⁓ And these are the areas where there might be some theological misalignment. And first, we’re going to

look at just the, I guess the study if you will, on ⁓ our existence as multiple and multiplicity in IFS ⁓ versus the Bible.

that speaks of unity, not multiplicity. So IFS teaches that the mind is naturally divided into multiple parts and that that is actually natural universally for human behavior and that we were never meant to have wholeness. We were always meant to have multiplicity within our mind. Well,

Scripture does continue to present human beings as unified persons. And I’m going to take a scripture here from the book of Romans chapter 12 verse 4 and 8 because it says, We are many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. So we being many are one body in Christ and individually we are members.

of one another. Now in this scripture, Paul is actually teaching and he’s actually speaking about the church, okay?

So I understand that you may at times have clients who are not believers, right? But if you happen to yourself be a believer in Christ and a believer of his word, if you believe that the Bible is true in what it says, then you will believe that

The Lord has created us to really come in communion with Him, come in connection and relationship with Him. We may not all choose to do that, but He has created us for relationship with Him. He desires that. And He desires us to be whole, not multiple.

So in the scripture that I read, Paul is actually talking about the church, the body of believers, and he’s saying that each person is a whole individual, ⁓ not actually talking about this person as having multiple parts, but he does talk about us as being individuals that have different gifts.

So each of us ⁓ having different gifts within ourselves and all together as a body of believers, we make up one unified body in Christ. But ⁓ the diversity that he’s talking about is not like within your mind. It’s like the diversity of people. So different people have different gifts and talents and then all together

Those individuals are one body in Christ versus it being that each of us have multiple members within ourselves that serve multiple purposes and therefore makes up individual whole selves. Instead, the Bible is talking about how each of us essentially are like puzzle pieces. We all have different gifts and they all lock in together for one unified body.

Another one is like the biblical view of our internal life. So the the Bible acknowledges that there are complexities internally in our life as human beings but again not multiplicity

So let me read the scripture. ⁓ So again, if we turn to the book of Romans, and we’re looking at Romans again, yes. And so ⁓ in chapter seven, verse 22 through 23, it says, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law.

of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” So here Paul again is describing an inner conflict and competing desires. And now

these competing desires, people may say, yes, that could be our parts, but he’s verifying that there is a competition because there’s a sinful nature within us. And so there’s a part of us wanting to keep God’s law and there’s a part that is like sinful and it is warring against you delighting in and following Christ. Now,

since IFS said there’s there is no there’s no bad parts then essentially there can’t be a sinful nature within you according to IFS because there are no bad parts and you know while we were born into sin you know the fall of man began in the Garden of Eden but according to IFS ⁓

you would not have a sinful nature. So there is a conflict there in the way that Dr. Schwartz sees humanity and sees good and evil versus what

the Lord has stated is, you know, is within us as human beings and what is good and what is evil.

we are made whole in Christ and without him we are sin-filled. So all of that really conflicts ⁓ with you know the Bible and IFS like our

coming together on that one, which I mean, hey, I understand because you know, we do have, ⁓ we do have mental health professionals who are trying to understand the world around them. They are trying to make sense of humanity and human nature and human behavior and suffering and healing. And these are actually all things that the Lord outlines in the scriptures, but everybody doesn’t follow the scripture, right? So

So there are then individuals who are trying to make sense of it from their own wisdom and what they believe to be true.

So let’s get back to looking at other areas where IFS and the Bible may not necessarily align. There’s some misalignment there. again, there is in IFS no bad parts. So therefore there can be no internal sin nature.

because there are no inherently bad parts.

that talks kind of against or rubs against what the Bible talks about with the complexities of our heart. And so when the Bible also when the Bible talks about our heart it’s talking about like our inward intentions our inward desires, you know. ⁓ That’s what the heart is representing in the scriptures and you can kind of even look in ⁓ you know in like the Greek and all of that to see and so that’s that’s a clarity that it doesn’t necessarily mean the actual physical organ but it is the nature

within you, the desires within you. So in the book of Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 through 10, it says that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And then it says, the Lord search the heart. I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. So

In the scripture, you see that there is complexity in the heart. ⁓ There is complexity in the mind. There is like the flesh again versus the spirit tension, know, the flesh versus the spirit of God, but there is not a separate internal personality.

There’s not like separate internal personalities. There is a sinful nature. ⁓ There are thoughts that are wicked. There are things that we may hold within our heart that are not right.

again something that is not good within us and and IFS does not support that. You know ⁓ IFS would say no it is all good within us right

Thank you for sticking with it. I want you to kind of take these scriptures down and then you can look at it for yourself. But another area where there’s misalignment is as it relates to unity of the person. So again, we are not like multiple parts, but we are unified.

So in, if you look at the book of Luke chapter 10 and verse 27, it says, ⁓ so he says, shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. ⁓ And then it says, and your neighbor as yourself. But look at what are the parts ⁓ of us that the Lord is referencing, you know? It’s talking about heart.

soul, strength, mind. And again heart is our intentions, our desires. Remember heart stands for that. So with all your thoughts and desires, So so it’s with your intentions, it’s with your thoughts, it’s with your strength, it’s with your soul.

that you are to love the Lord. But if you notice it’s not talking about like with all of your shame, with all of your fear, with all of your heaviness, with all of your burdens, you know, with all of the things that are, you know, maybe reckless. It’s not, it’s not talking about that at all. It’s very simple. There’s just, it’s saying basically you are, you are mind, body.

and soul. And all of that needs to

focus toward me. ⁓ So that’s that’s one thing that I think goes against the whole idea of us having all of these different parts. I’m not really seeing in the scripture where it says that we are made up of all of these different parts and that and here’s here’s the major distinction that we don’t get rid of any of the parts.

So the Bible, you know, we talk about like some of the parts ⁓ might be carrying fear. Well, what does the Bible say about that? It actually says God has not given us a spirit of fear, right? So.

How can it be then that we are supposed to be carrying around this fear and that the fear never goes away? It’s just that we, the fear, we can help a person to hold that fear and that fear can then work calmly together with other parts that are present.

So again, I’m throwing it out there because I’m like, well, hey, look, so scripture says this, so what do we do then with what IFS is saying? And we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that in a minute. ⁓ So let me move us along. IFS claims that everyone possesses an undamaged self. ⁓ But the Christian doctrine,

says something different. So the undamaged self for IFS is again going along with everyone is good at their core. But if you look at the book of John verse 15 and five and actually go a little bit further than verse five, it says in the Bible

I am the vine and you are the branches and if you remain in me

and I in you, then you will bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing. And if you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. This is

to my father’s glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples.” So what he’s saying here though is that

by yourself, you can’t do anything for the kingdom by yourself. You’re, you’re not able to just tap into your own self, your own universal self and still be doing great things for the kingdom. You have to be plugged into Christ if you’re going to be doing any work for His glory and His kingdom. So that’s why he’s like, Hey, if you stay in me, like in my word, in relationship with me,

then I will stay in you and I will bring forth out of you things that show other people you are mine. But if you disconnect from me, you’re not going to be able to accomplish that. You can’t and if you stay disconnected from me and you just walk away from me, you just drop off, then you will be like a branch that has withered away and what is that? Like you will not be useful.

So listen to what the Bible is saying. The Bible is actually saying that we are made for being in connection with our Creator but outside of of our Creator there cannot be wholeness and true fruitfulness according to what the Bible says is fruitful if you just operate within your own self, your own power. So if you operate within your own power

you are going to get the results of what only you can create by yourself. And I think that

We need to stop and just look at that real quick because I know IFS says that we are, are universally, we have a self and that self actually can direct and heal and it can do all the things. Like essentially you have everything you need within you and you don’t need Christ. Cause in IFS they don’t talk anything about, it’s not about Christ. It’s about what you have the power to do for yourself, by yourself with all the parts

working together, coming underneath the self that is the leader. And if you can get all of your parts to work underneath the self harmoniously, you can create great healing, great effectiveness in your own life. And that really supports healing ⁓ by yourself. Like heal thyself. It doesn’t even acknowledge that there would be a supreme being creator saving

of the universe that is covering you, assisting you, helping you to heal.

you want to ask yourself, what am I helping to promote with the psychoeducation that I provide about this modality? Do I personally believe that to be true as a follower of Christ?

Because I want to just pause here real quick because I can almost hear someone saying, I may not believe that, but my client believes it and or I may not believe it, but my client does not have a faith in Christ. So this is what works for them. And here’s what I want to just throw out. If you actually believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life

and nobody comes to the Father except through him, then why would you use psychoeducation to inform somebody of something that’s going to lead them away from the way, the truth, and the life? I’m just asking.

we have to figure out, okay, well, how do I operate then? Because I can’t impose my faith on anybody. That’s unethical, right? It is.

But again, is possibly that it’s going to lead you to have to be very clear about how you are using these modalities so that people know if they come to you, it’s maybe not going to look the same as what they are used to getting in IFS. And that way you can stay in alignment with your faith and you can also use modalities ⁓ that don’t take you outside of your faith. And we’ll talk a little bit about

that in a quick minute. ⁓ So here we go. I want to talk about this one too. This is another way that

I see there’s some misalignment with IFS and what the Bible says because IFS says that there’s like external burdens that then cause problems internally. So there’s this like externalized burden framework that ⁓ that IFS supports. So dysfunction comes from external burdens according to IFS.

Christ says though that it comes from within the heart of man. So in scripture, it actually says something different and you would want to go to the book of Mark verse 7, 14 through 23 and kind of look at that because in that scripture, Christ is actually talking to ⁓ a multitude of people and he is telling these people because

these people have been taught by the Pharisees that what you eat, what you consume makes you unclean. And so Christ is now talking to the multitude and he’s telling them it has nothing to do with what actually… ⁓

enters you from the outside. So it’s it’s it’s not what you ingest, it’s not what you eat, it’s not everything that is external that actually defiles you. That’s not what makes you unclean, it’s not all the things externally that make you unclean, but it’s the things that come out of you that actually causes you to defile yourself.

And he then says, like, it’s the things that actually come out of you which are in your heart. It’s not the things that you have to worry about, like eating something, touching something, and now you’re unclean. Nope. It’s what comes out of you. And he then goes on to say, what comes out of a man that defiles a man happens to be from within his own heart. And that’s where evil thoughts

come from and that’s where fornication and murder and theft and adultery and covetousness and wickedness and deceit and lewdness blasphemy pride foolishness like check the scripture he said all these evil things come from within and they defile a man

There’s a lot of things that you can experience on the outside, but it’s what actually comes from within you and then comes out that causes you to be defiled. Okay.

So it’s not the outside stuff that’s the problem, it’s the inside stuff that’s the problem. So he’s saying, no, you gotta actually check your heart, you gotta check your heart posture. That’s the real problem.

And then the other thing is when he goes down the list of all the things that come out of a man’s heart that are evil, that’s like within you. And then that goes against what IFS says when it says there are no bad parts. So everyone is very good at their core. There are no bad parts. So that’s another thing. Let’s talk about now. How? Since you’ve been so patient. How?

How do we adapt IFS ⁓ to then align with Christianity? Because I think sometimes that’s the challenge is like we try to align Christianity with whatever modality.

But here’s what you’re probably going to have to do with regards to IFS. Just because there are several misalignments ⁓ with what Dr. Schwartz believes about our existence and about humanity and about how we are built and how we run and operate and who is the head or the lead over our lives. You’re going to have to make some serious adaptations. So let me just kind of talk through a few of these because

One of the things that we want to look at is, first of all, ⁓ some clinicians are trying to integrate and adapt it by calling the self, like the spirit-led self, and inviting Jesus into the parts work. And I do get that.

So I want to be really careful how I say that because I am not picking here. I’m just pointing some things out and I’m always open for discussion. I’m always open for discussion. ⁓ But, you know, they are kind of inviting Jesus into then the parts work.

I understand that many people are coming very sincerely. I they are really, they are trying to align this with their faith. But I will say we want to just use some caution here because again scripture doesn’t describe like

adding or evangelizing sub-personalities. Again, when you look at the scripture, it doesn’t talk to sub-personalities. It doesn’t talk to,

internal children like these. I get it like metaphorically, I do get it but if you’re saying it like no this is literal, this is how human beings are created and how they function and what they are made up of, then I’m not sure because the scriptures aren’t really kind of aligning. So here are some things that you can do if you want to amend

IFS to come in line with your faith as a Christian. One, use the concepts of parts as a metaphor to describe your the person’s emotions and their reactions rather than treating parts as literal separate identities within the mind. Number two,

You can shift the focus from the idea of an inherently undamaged internal core to the belief that

like health and change are an active process that’s driven by a divine influence. So rather than searching for a hidden flawless self, then this approach is going to emphasize that your ability to heal and to act differently is a result of God working within you. Okay? So

That’s again, that’s something to consider. And number three, avoid using the parts model as a way to deflect from people’s real behavior or compartmentalize people’s behavior. So instead of saying part of you did that,

kind of maintain the perspective that you are a unified agent, you are responsible for your choices, and the parts explain maybe why you felt a certain way. Like part of me kind of wasn’t sure, you know, if I needed to do that or part of me was super angry, but it does not excuse or replace

personal agency and moral obligation. So we don’t want to allow that to say like ⁓ that part just didn’t know what to do and that’s why you slapped that person in the face. It’s like well no, we want to acknowledge that a part of you desire to maybe you know get back at or harm somebody the way they harmed you and you took an action that you should not have taken, which then we can

talk about you know the pain that we felt or the the anger or the embarrassment or whatever it was and then we can look at self-control which is one of the fruits of the spirit. Okay number four in this framework the resolution of internal conflict and the healing of emotional parts

are recognized as aspects of spiritual growth. So rather than achieving a state of like self leadership, ⁓ the goal would then be to surrender the various aspects of one experience to Christ’s leadership, Christ’s lordship.

And so transformation is therefore ongoing and divinely assisted, which will be a process of becoming who you were created to be in Christ.

next one and the last one, which could have been the first one, is that you want to make sure to provide informed consent regarding the worldview that you are going to be integrating into the adaptations and the differences between the adapted version of IFS and the world version that maybe people are more

accustomed to, more aware of. So as we come to the end of our time together, IFS

provides some tools and some structure. However, it’s claimed that humans are naturally multiple and that wholeness does not mean coming together of multiples. It means that multiplicity is normal and that’s how human beings were supposed to be across the board. It’s a doctrine of a universal, undamaged self.

no parts being bad, all parts are inherently good, and its external burden framework, so all things that are burdensome, that are negative, come from outside of ourselves, don’t fully align with biblical truth.

because scriptures present us as being unified, as Christ designed for us to be all one in Him. And we do have internal conflict. We do have internal sin nature that we need to work through and that we are in need of redemption through Christ and that you are complete in Christ.

and that wholeness is not harmony amongst many different parts, but wholeness is union with Christ.

I thank you so much if you got to the very end of this podcast episode. I thank you for listening to this. I thank you for looking at everything that I was presenting, thinking on it, pray on it. Take this to the Father in prayer. Look at the scriptures for yourself. then prayerfully, just really take some time to think through what

are we actually leaning into when we adopt other modalities, other treatment therapies, excuse me, theories and modalities that were created by individuals who may not have had a relationship or belief in Christ, but they are creating modalities to try to understand.

God’s creation and the way it operates and the way it behaves and how it heals and many other things. And so they then construct a modality based on their understanding of how things should work in human beings. And it does not include the Lord God who created us. So again,

I thank you. welcome any of your questions. I welcome any of your comments. You can comment under the video. You can comment under the podcast audio. You can send me an email. I thank you for the time that you spent with me today in listening to how IFS and Christianity walk together or don’t. Until we meet again.

God bless.