We live in a world where our identity, sense of accomplishment and fulfillments is based on what we do-our academic achievements, success of our businesses, how large our churches and ministries are, the car we drive, the kind of house we live in, fame, how we look, the list goes on and on.
We have so much given our whole sense of existence to these mundane things that ware out or are temporary stuff, that passes away with time. Isn’t it so scary that when we die, none of these things we build our lives around does not go with us? This is so scary. Please get me right, it’s alright to be successful and achieve great things in life and God has blessed us with the beauty He designed this world to be, but we have a problem if the rat race becomes the very reason for our existence or stands to define who we are.
We are not human doings! We are human beings! We are not a body living in a soul, we are a soul living in a body. In the words of John Ortberg; “Your soul is the deepest thing about you. Jesus said that the soul is more valuable than the world. So why would we not value it? Two things are true: 1. You have a soul, 2. It is the only part of being that you will ever have. As believers, we do not want to forfeit our souls. But what exactly is the soul? Can we identify or describe it? Can we detect it through an x-ray? I believe strongly that there is something so important about the soul that each of us have to understand, protect, and nurture.”
Your Soul is the real you; your mind(the conscious, sub-conscious and the unconscious), will, and emotions, all these are components of your Soul. How much care do you give to your soul? How are they all integrated into God design for you? God said in His word, in Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart(soul) with all diligent for from it comes the issues of life. How much do we take care of our inner being-the real you?
During one of my Soul Care classes with Stephen Smith, he gave an insightful explanation of how the soul can be perceived. The Soul is best understood when we think about an Ice-berg. As an iceberg floats in the water,the greater part of it remains below the surface. Only a small percentage of the whole iceberg is visible above the surface.This is important when we talk about the care of the Soul because there are different aspects below the water surface. Down deep within the soul is our own need to be loved, accepted, safe, to have power ,control and a sense of belonging. Isn’t this so true? We would be fools if we accept the fact that the small visible part of the iceberg is all that exist, however, that is how we most of the time view our lives.
” Sow a thought and you reap an action, sow an act and you reap a habit, sow a habit and your reap a character, sow a character and you reap a destiny” Ralph Waldo Emerson. It all starts with the Soul!
We have long submitted to the destructive and distorted view by giving so much attention to our physical being and ignoring the care of the inner being. God is not looking human doings but he is looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth.
It only takes pulling away, intimacy,intentionally meeting with the Creator of our Soul to know who He is and see what He is doing and then go ahead and be and do. ” Those who know their God, shall be strong and do great exploits- Daniel 11:32 KJV. This example we see in the life of Jesus, as He took time to be with the Father. His disciples saw the healing, miracles, teachings, and all they were much interested in was a request,”teach us how to pray”. Why not teach us how to speak with boldness, teach us how to heal and perform miracles? These 12 men have walked and worked with Jesus. They have watched every move of this man, they knew that in all of His doings, there was something much greater and that was His intimate relationship with God.
They witnessed a divine moment when the Lord was transfigured before them and their response was ‘Lord,let’s built a tabernacle here’ because they found the very reason for their existence.
“Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’.And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.”Matthew 7:21-23″
” The most important thing about a man is not what he does but who he becomes” Dallas Willard
There is nothing more beautiful and fulfilling when out of a healthy Soul you do the works of the Father. Jesus said ” I do only what i see my Father doing” He saw as He spent time getting to know the Father and Creator of our Soul!
PRAYER: Lord, i ask that my will be totally submitted to Your will. I ask that my mind is one that is daily renewed with the mind of Christ. I ask that my emotions be one daily controlled by the fruits of Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus name!
How much do we care for our Soul – the real you?