What is Christian Life Coaching?

What makes Christian life coaching distinct from other forms of coaching?
Certainly, most people would agree that Christian Life Coaching is Christ-centered, biblically based, and Spirit-empowered. But however helpful these terms may be, they offer little practical help to Christian life coaches seeking to honor God in the daily ins and outs of working with clients who have diverse goals and objectives.
One of the most helpful and exhaustive explorations of the topic of Christian life coaching I’ve found is that offered by coach and author Tony Stoltzfus, in his book, Christian Life Coaching Handbook: Calling and Destiny Discovery Tools for Christian Life Coaching. In it, Stoltzfus provides multiple tools and assessments to assess personality type, inventory strengths, clarify values, cast vision, and discover life purpose and mission. But what makes the process distinctly Christian is its focus on the eternal as the ultimate objective.
According to Stoltzfus, one of the most serious errors made in Christian life coaching is simply this, “Concentrating exclusively on creating temporal blessings and improving this life.” Stoltzfus goes on to say, “Making the focus aligning our passions and design to create a significant life in the here and now falls far short of God’s plan for us.”
Simply put, Christian life coaching focuses on helping people discern God’s call on their lives and expending it to extend God’s Kingdom.

Christian Life Coaching Distinctives

Coach and author Tony Stoltzfus suggests five “crucial distinctives” of Christian life coaching. Here is an abridged version of those distinctives:

Allegiance

We foster alignment with the Kingdom through allegiance to Jesus.

Calling

We help people discover God’s call on their life and learn how to steward their life for the Kingdom instead of spending it on self.

Giving

We understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Eternal Rewards

We seek to help people find practical ways to focus on eternal rewards instead of only creating temporary benefits in this life.

Being-Centered

We help people find the heart of their call. The primary purpose is not to do something for the world, but to be Christ to the world through what they do.

In summary, Christian life coaching is a Christ-centered, biblically based, and Spirit-empowered process that focuses on life purpose discovery and helping clients align their lives with the purposes of God.
For more on this these distinctive and Christian life coaching in general, pick up Tony Stoltzfus’ book, Christian Life Coaching Handbook: Calling and Destiny Discovery Tools for Christian Life Coaching.
How do you define Christian life coaching?