Review of Putting your Past in Its Place

Dr. Steve Viars (D.Min, Westminster) is the senior pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana. His new book, Putting your Past in its Place, is a fruit of his long counseling ministry, and his commitment to helping people from the Word of God.

The thesis of the book is that our manner of handling our problems in the present can be influenced by our past; therefore we need to ensure that we have dealt with the past biblically. His goal in the book is to help believers in Christ work through their problems in ways that are pleasing to God.

Viars begins by building a properly balanced perspective: the past is not everything, we can rise above what has happened to us; neither is the past inconsequential, it can be a collection of unfinished business that hinders moving forward.

Illustrating his points with a combination of biblical teaching and fascinating case studies, Viars shows the reader that past events can be placed into four basic categories:

1. What happened was not our fault, and we responded properly.
2. What happened was not our fault, but we responded sinfully.
3. What happened was our fault, but we responded and dealt with it properly.
4. What happened was our fault, and we responded sinfully.

The reader is encouraged to place events from the past into the appropriate "bucket." Viars then teaches how each bucket can be properly "emptied," with the result that the past becomes our friend, and not our enemy.

Viars is not a "take two bible verses and call me in the morning" kind of counselor. His treatment of these issues reveals both keen perception into human behavior and a nuanced approach to dealing with it. Viars' style is warm, down-to-earth, and engaging. His writing is suffused with compassion and understanding. Extending the book's usefulness, each chapter ends with both study group and individual questions.

I highly recommend this book to two audiences: those who are wrestling with a difficult past will find it supremely helpful. Pastors, counselors, and anyone engaged in helping others will find in this book a very complete resource for assisting believers to grow in Christ. I know I will be using it in my own counseling.