About the Book
Lives grind to a halt when people don’t know how to relate to their past. Some believe “the past is nothing” and attempt to suppress the brokenness again and again. Others miss out on renewal and change by making the past more important than their present and future. Neither approach moves people toward healing or hope.
Pastor and biblical counselor Stephen Viars introduces a third way to view one’s personal history―by exploring the role of the past as God intended. Using Scripture to lead readers forward, Viars provides practical measures to
- understand the important place “the past” is given in Scripture
- replace guilt and despair with forgiveness and hope
- turn failures into stepping stones for growth
This motivating, compassionate resource is for anyone ready to review and release the past so that God can transform their behaviors, relationships, and their ability to hope in a future.
About the Author
Stephen Viars earned his DMin degree in biblical counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and has served as a pastor and biblical counselor for more than 20 years at Faith Baptist Church and Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries in Lafayette, Indiana. He serves as the president of the board of the Biblical Counselors Coalition, the vice president of the board of National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, and is a frequent speaker at conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and abroad.
Book Reviews
“The Christian counseling world has waited a long time for a book that has substantive help for people who are weighed down with problems from their past. It is finally here! Steve Viars has taken a difficult issue and, aptly and with clarity, applies practical theological answers to it. You cannot read this book without being personally changed. If you are looking for solid biblical answers about your past, this is the book for you.”
―Dr. John D. Street, chair of the Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling program, The Master’s College and Seminary
“The gospel promises believers the power to change, but those who’ve experienced deep pain in their past often struggle with living by faith. Pastor Steve Viars’ new book, Putting Your Past in Its Place, offers practical, compassionate, biblical help for those with painful personal histories, and for their pastors and counselors.”
―Dr. Laura Hendrickson, author, biblical counselor, psychiatrist
“Steve Viars is a pastoral psychologist of the best sort: realistic, practical, and thoroughly Christian. His book really does put the past in its proper place and does so by comforting, challenging, and encouraging those who need to make peace with their past. Whether you are struggling with the past yourself or one who counsels the strugglers, you cannot read this book and not be changed.”
―Sam R. Williams, PhD, associate professor of counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC
“Many of us remain paralyzed by our past even though freedom from our past was purchased on the cross. In this much-needed book, Steve Viars shows that the Bible teaches us what we need to know about learning from and disarming our past. So read well, see yourself, see Jesus, and receive His liberating grace.”
―Paul Tripp, president, Paul Tripp Ministries and author of What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage
“If you long to get free from your past and into the glorious future God has for you, Steve Viars and his wonderful new book, Putting Your Past in Its Place, can show you the way. It is insightful, powerful, and immensely practical. Get one for every member of your family so they can join you in this bright new future free from the pain of your past.”
―Dr. James MacDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Chicago
“In Putting Your Past in its Place, experienced biblical counselor and respected Bible scholar Steve Viars seeks to answer the important question, What role does a person’s past play in his or her present-day living? Viars bases his answer not on his or any other human being’s opinion but on God’s authoritative, infallible Word. This interesting and insightful book will be of great benefit to many people. Counselors will find this book to be very helpful, as will Christians who struggle with discerning a biblical perspective.”
―Wayne Mack, professor of biblical counseling, Grace School of Ministry, Pretoria and Capetown, South Africa
“As a counselor I know people often get stuck in the past. Some wallow there and others make every effort to deny its effects. While Steve Viars boldly admits the importance of the past, he gives it no mystical power of causality for the redeemed. He is thoroughly biblical, pleasantly practical, and sets the record straight about how to handle your past in a God-honoring way. I challenge you to read this book with your own past in mind―then put your past in its place so you can help others do the same.”
―Garrett Higbee, executive director of Twelve Stones Ministries and team leader of counseling ministry, Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, IL
“Steve Viars knows the problems we face, but he also knows that the answers to our problems are found in the Bible. In Putting Your Past in its Place, he takes his wealth of experience in the pulpit and in the counseling room and applies it to the difficulties faced by those who feel shackled to their past. If you want to deal with your past and yes, put it in its proper place, then this book is for you. It is thoroughly biblical, deeply compassionate, and engagingly hopeful. Buy it!”
―Elyse Fitzpatrick, head of Women Helping Women Ministries and author of Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety
