The Cost of Competence

The Cost of Competence Formation · Vocation The Cost of Competence Light is rarely resented for being false. It is resented for being bright. What do you owe a room that would rather stay dim? The Flourishing Journal Walk into a dark room and turn on the light, and no one thanks you first. They wince. Hands go up to shield eyes that had made their peace with the gloom. For a moment you are not the person who helped them see but the person who hurt them. This is the strange social physics of competence. We are told it is the thing that earns belonging, the currency that buys…

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Proximity Seeking: The First Step in Bonding with God

Bonding with God Series Proximity Seeking: The First Step in Bonding with God Episode 02  ·  Flourishing with Dr. Victor Counted About This Episode What if drawing near to God isn't just a spiritual discipline — but a deep psychological instinct woven into how you were made? In this episode of the Bonding with God series, Dr. Victor Counted unpacks proximity seeking — the most foundational step in forming a secure bond with God. Drawing from attachment theory and his new book Bonding with God (Baker Academic, 2026), Dr. Counted explores why human beings are neurologically and relationally wired to move toward a source of safety when life feels uncertain,…

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Why We Keep Repeating the Same Mistakes

https://youtu.be/EDoySz4sNfk?si=qqXjuiLaO9JQLETg Every new year brings a quiet promise. We tell ourselves that next year will be different. We will stop the habits that keep us tired, step away from stressful patterns, and walk into a wiser version of ourselves. Yet most people step into a new year with the same struggles they carried through the last one. The story repeats. The pain returns in a familiar shape. The real tragedy is not that we suffer. Pain is part of life. The deeper tragedy is that we often survive difficult seasons without learning from them. We move through heartbreak, pressure, loss, or burnout and come out on the other side with…

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Why You’re Wired for Justice

Amos was not a politician. He was a farmer with fire in his bones. When he saw exploitation and hypocrisy in Israel, he spoke words that still thunder across centuries: “Take away from me the noise of your songs!But let justice roll on like a river,righteousness like a never-failing stream.” — Amos 5:23–24 Amos confronted a nation that praised God on the Sabbath but crushed the poor on Monday. His message was simple: worship without justice is noise. God’s kind of justice is the restoration of all things back to Himself. God’s justice is an unbroken stream that gives life to everything it touches. https://youtu.be/WA_bgKp-_p8?si=_io4VruyM-K7o2Xy The Psychology of Fairness Modern…

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Resilence: Why We Bounce Back When Trouble Comes

Biblical Wisdom for Flourishing | Dr Victor Counted Happy new month! October is here, and with it comes a fresh reminder that life doesn’t always go the way we hope. Just when we think we’ve healed, something comes along to test that healing. That is why our focus this month is....   resilience. Resilience is the psychological (and I'd add God-given) strength to keep standing when life pushes hard, to keep trusting when answers aren’t clear, and to keep moving forward knowing God is with us. Healing is not the finish line. Life keeps coming at us, and sometimes it tests the very healing God has started in us. That is…

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I was on the ABC National Radio talking about covid and flourishing

Originally published on ABC's God Forbid website. https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/rn/podcast/2022/02/gfd_20220213.mp3 Has the new year brought a fresh approach to life amid the uncertainty of the pandemic? In achieving human flourishing, developing good habits are as important as extinguishing the bad. On God Forbid, James Carleton and our panel take a look at how we're going with our new year's resolutions, one habit at a time. In this episode: How difficult – or easy – is it to fix a bad habit? There’s no single answer to that question, but it’s clear that for many of us, replacing bad habits with good ones can feel like a near impossible task.  One of the most…

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