How A Biblical Approach To Dementia Caregiving Is Revolutionary In The World
When we think about dementia caregiving, most of us focus on checklists, medications, behavior changes, and coping strategies. But what if we’ve been approaching it all backward?
In Episode 241, we begin a powerful new series that offers a biblical foundation for caregiving. This isn’t just about managing daily tasks—it’s about understanding who God is, who your loved one is, and what He’s doing in and through you.
This episode introduces a Christ-centered framework that will transform how you think, feel, and live out your caregiving calling.
Dementia Care Isn’t Just a Medical or Emotional Journey—it’s a Spiritual One
Our culture often treats people with dementia as less than. Their value seems to fade with their memory. But from a biblical lens, nothing about their worth changes.
🕊️ They are still made in the image of God.
🕊️ They still have dignity.
🕊️ They still matter for eternity.
And as caregivers, we’re not just “doing our duty.” We’re being refined, sanctified, and shaped by the Holy Spirit in the process.
Three Reasons a Biblical Approach Makes All the Difference
1) It grounds you in God’s character—not your feelings.
When caregiving gets hard (and it will), you won’t rely on your strength. You’ll rely on God’s unchanging nature.
2) It reframes your purpose.
This isn’t just about helping your loved one. It’s about glorifying God and growing in Christlikeness as you do.
3) It gives eternal perspective.
Your loved one’s memory may fade, but their soul is secure. Dementia doesn’t erase God’s promises.
A Relationship-Centered Model Rooted in Scripture
This series teaches a framework that isn’t based on performance or productivity—but on relationship. We’ll walk through how to:
✔️ Center caregiving on God, not just your loved one
✔️ See your role as part of God’s plan
✔️ Build a caregiving rhythm that reflects biblical truth
This first episode lays the foundation for a faith-based caregiving journey that’s not driven by confusion, fear, or guilt—but by peace, purpose, and trust in God’s sovereignty.
You’re Not Just a Caregiver—You’re a Disciple Walking with God
Dementia caregiving can feel overwhelming. But through the lens of Scripture, it becomes something deeper—a calling filled with meaning, growth, and worship.
Your loved one is not lost in God’s eyes.
And neither are you.
Transcript
Introduction to Revolutionary Caregiving
[0:00] Let me ask you something. What if everything you’ve been taught about dementia caregiving from the healthcare system, from social media, even from well-meaning friends and family is missing the most important part? In today’s episode, I want to show you why a biblical approach to caregiving is nothing short of revolutionary. It’s revolutionary because it begins with God, not with the diagnosis. It’s revolutionary because it’s rooted in dignity, design, and discipleship, not just survival. We’re kicking off a new series where I’ll walk you through the full framework I use to coach Christian dementia caregivers, but it starts here with the why. Why your loved one still reflects the image of God. Why dementia isn’t random, but a part of God’s sovereign plan. And why this work you’re doing is part of your sanctification.
[1:04] This isn’t just caregiving. This is kingdom caregiving, and it changes everything. If you are a Christian and you are struggling with God’s sovereignty or God’s providence, reach out to me. I will have a conversation happily with you about God’s providence and God’s sovereignty and help you along in your journey. If you are struggling as a family caregiver and you’re ready for a little bit more support, hop on a Care Companion success call with me. It will take 20 minutes where you will be able to talk to me, gain some clarity about your very next step that you need to take in this journey, as well as have a conversation about whether or not it makes sense for both you and for me for us to work together to help you through your dementia caregiving journey.
[1:58] Hey, Christian Care Companion, welcome to Dementia Caregiver Support for Christians, the podcast where I show Bible-believing Christians that we serve the God of order and not confusion, and that there is order to dementia, that the way we think about our caregiving can determine the outcome of our journey. Because we are made in the image of God, who is in an eternal relationship, our approach organizes around healthy relationships and not just caregiving tasks. If you are a Christian spouse, the adult child, or a family member of a person living with dementia and want to find more clarity, less stress, and provide better care, this podcast is for you. Here we provide you with practical solutions, hope and encouragement, and an eternal view of caregiving. Looking for a little bit more support and want to have your own personal questions answered on this particular podcast, it’s time to register for the next Ask the Dementia Coach monthly question and answer session. Our next session will be Thursday, April the 24th at 6 p.m.
[3:21] This is your opportunity to have live dementia caregiver support and feel what it feels like to actually receive help in real time in a small community of people so you don’t feel alone. Yet again, the next episode or it’s time for you to register for our next Ask the Dementia Coach monthly meetup, monthly question and answer session.
The Biblical Framework for Caregiving
[3:48] And you can register at the website at thinkdifferentdementia.com. Dot com forward slash ask. Now, today’s episode starts off a whole new series that’s going to take about 24 episodes where I’m going to walk you through my framework of how I work with Christian dementia caregivers.
[4:11] So I want you to picture or imagine in your mind, most of us have seen the sculpture David that Michelangelo made, right? And I want you to imagine you are standing in front of a huge piece of marble and you have the ability to see the piece of sculpture inside the marble that just needs to be brought out. Now, when we look at that beautiful sculpture, the Sculpture David. It was one of the most phenomenal pieces of sculpture that has ever been made. And Michelangelo actually has been attributed to saying the sculpture is already complete within the marble. I just needed to chisel away the superfluous material.
[5:03] To a large extent, that is what God is doing with us every single day when he is chiseling away the superfluous material in order to make us more like Christ. So today’s episode, we are going to look at how a biblical approach to dementia
Value Beyond Memory
[5:25] caregiving is revolutionary in the world. And we’re going to look at it under three specific points. The first one is the world says your value fades with your memory. The second point is the world says dementia is just a tragedy. And the last point is the world says you just need to survive your dementia caregiving journey. So we’re going to take an entirely revolutionary look dementia through a biblical approach today.
[6:01] So point number one, the world says your value fades with your memory. And recently I have come to the realization that what it is that I do and how I actually help people is radically different than anybody else in the dementia caregiving space because the world does say that because you cannot think, you are less of a person. That because you don’t have the ability to reason anymore, that you are worth less because of that.
[6:35] That is in essence, if you go look at all these different caregiving philosophies and principles and techniques, that is where they’re coming from. That because a person cannot think for themselves, therefore they are less than they used to be. However, what does the Bible say? The Bible says that you and I are created in the image of God, and because of that, and only because of that, we have value. Because we are created in the image of God, we are valuable. He created us. The medical model says that dementia caregiving needs to be patient-centered or patient-centric. The secular model looks at it in a little bit different of a way, and it looks at it that it needs to be more caregiver-centered or caregiver-centric. But the biblical model of caregiving is actually relationship-centered. Why?
[7:35] And this has taken me a long time to figure out because I did start my journey as a dementia caregiver support specialist as an occupational therapist in the medical model where it was only patient-centered and quite rightfully so because insurance is paying for the patient’s care. And then when I transitioned out of only looking at from a patient-centered perspective, I did go into to looking at only from a caregiver-centered perspective because.
[8:09] I all of a sudden turned into that family caregiver. And so I’m like, well, if the medical model is only looking at it from the patient-centered perspective, and all of a sudden I’m a family caregiver, let me look at it from a caregiver-centered perspective. And it fell tremendously short. It has some value. I’m not saying that the secular model or caregiver-centered or patient-centered don’t bring value to the table. I’m just saying that they are incomplete. And so as I was journeying through this process, one day I just had this huge realization that I was still missing something. And the thing that I was missing was the biblical model. And that is that caregiving and dementia caregiving is relationship-centered. Why? Because God is a God of relationship. God is in relationship with himself from before the beginning of the world. He is eternal. He created time. And when he created time, he was there before and he will be there for eternity. He is always going to be there. He’s always been there. But God is triune.
[9:17] He has, there’s the triune God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they have always been in a relationship. And we, in all of our coaching sessions, we teach, because God is relational, we teach a relationship-centered caregiving, not solely behavior-driven, which is what the medical and the secular model look at is all of these what are known as responsive behaviors or challenging behaviors and how to manage those. And I’m not saying that we shouldn’t because we should, And we do address those two using techniques and things that come from the medical and the other models because they work to an extent. They’re just not complete. But we look at it from a relationship perspective and we call this interaction. Entire methodology, caregiving dignity by design, because God is a God of design, and God has designed our caregiving journey for us if we are just willing and
Rethinking Dementia as a Tragedy
[10:26] open to see it in a different way. The second thing that the world says is that it’s just a tragedy. Dementia is a tragedy.
[10:35] The world sees dementia as a tragedy, and frequently I will hear people say things to me like, this is the worst death ever. The person is losing themselves, they’re losing their autonomy, and that is just terrible. If you go into these huge Facebook groups, which I caution you not to do, if you’re looking for a Facebook group, please go look for mine. It’s called Dementia Caregiver Support for Christians because we come at this from a Christian worldview. Yes, there is loss, but there is loss in all death because the wages of sin is death. And because the wages of sin is death, and death came into the world when Adam sinned, we are all going to die. And so death is the ultimate tragedy, but death has been overcome by Christ, right? But what does the Bible say about dementia? Does the Bible say dementia is a tragedy? No, the Bible says death is a tragedy. The Bible says that dementia, if seen through the light of eternity.
[11:39] Is for your good and for God’s glory. The Westminster Catechism says, what is the chief end of man? And the answer to a particular question is, man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That is what the Bible says about dementia. It is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. All that the world sees in a dementia journey or in the dementia narrative is loss. What do we as Christians see in the dementia caregiving and dementia narrative? We should see eternity. We should see God using dementia to turn us into more like Christ for our good and for God’s glory. And so because of that, I’m very confident to say that there is order in dementia and that because we serve a God of order, there is not confusion in the process. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 33 says, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. And so what we call this methodology is the think different dementia way, because we.
[12:55] Our entire approach to dementia and dementia caregiving is revolutionary when compared to the systems and the methodologies of the world.
Surviving vs. Thriving in Caregiving
[13:06] The last thing that we’re going to look at today is… Is the world says to you and I as caregivers that we need to just survive dementia and dementia caregiving. Now, that is a very difficult thing to think about, to just survive.
[13:23] Nobody wants to just survive. And what a depressing thought that is to just survive this process, this journey. What in contrast does the Bible say? The Bible actually says that dementia as well, too, is for your sanctification. Now, what does that mean? What is sanctification? So, sanctification is a work of God’s free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and we are enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace. Yes, we have to work at our sanctification. We have to turn from our sin and choose another way. But, and in light of the entire framework that we are building out, We need to recognize and understand that even though the person living with dementia is changing, if they are a believer.
[14:31] God is still working in them for their sanctification to make them more holy.
[14:38] Which is what the word sanctified means, to make them more holy and to look more like the image of God, to make us be more like Christ. The culture and the world says that dementia and dementia caregiving is just a burden to endure. The Bible says that this is a means of grace, a tool that God is using to conform us to the image of God, to the image of Christ. So kind of like back to the introduction, where God can see the beautiful sculpture within each and every one of us if we are true believers, and He is chiseling away the superfluous materials so that we can be like the image of Christ. That is your sanctification.
Recap and Invitation for Support
[15:28] That is the purpose of this journey is for your good and for God’s glory. So to recap real quick today’s episode, we are talking about a biblical approach to dementia caregiving that is revolutionary in the world. And the more I have been working through this process and thinking about it, it is vastly different to anything else that is out there in the world. The world says that your value fades with your memory, and the Bible says that you were created in the image of God, and because of that, you have value.
[16:03] So a person living with dementia is still created in the image of God and they do have value. And as such, we need to help them and appreciate them for their inherent value that they bring just because they are created in the image of God. The second thing is the world says that dementia is just a tragedy. The Bible says that that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
[16:32] And dementia is not a tragedy. It is a part of that ability to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And then the last point is, the world says you only just need to survive dementia and dementia caregiving. In stark contrast to that, the Bible says that this too is for your sanctification, which means making you more in the image of Christ. Back to David and the Michelangelo statue, you and I are constantly in our caregiving being chiseled away by God to bring out everything we need to become in order to be more like Christ. And so if you’re struggling with your caregiving journey, if you’re struggling to understand why a good God will allow this, I invite you to hop on my calendar and have a 20-minute Care Companion success call and we can talk about that. We can talk about anything and everything that you need in order for you to navigate and journey this through a biblical lens.
[17:44] And as I end all of my episodes, I’m excited that you guys are here. I would love for you to share these episodes. I would love for you to join my Facebook group. I would love for you to check it out on YouTube. Also, Dementia Caregiver Support for Christians. I am here to revolutionize dementia caregiving for Christian family caregivers, and I pray for you every day. And as I end my episodes, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and I will see you in our next episode.
