This Column Will Save Your Life
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Let’s talk… Is it well with your soul?
By Jean Davenport-Niles
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul?’ Mark 8:36
Some simple facts are important to know. Our souls belong to the Lord. He created them when He created us. When He is our Lord and Savior, our souls belong to Him and He makes sure that nothing or no one breaks the bonds of our relationship.
Every person is a sinner and has earned eternal death (Roman 3:23), except Jesus. A body can be killed yet no man can kill our soul. The soul is basically an essence of our mind, our emotions, and our free will. It is who we are as human beings. Our souls have a purpose other than being earthly and condemned. Thankfully, God has offered a way of salvation for those whose souls are doomed to die. Our soul’s destination is of utmost importance and should be the number one priority in a person’s life. It is the only thing we take with us when our body dies. We do not want to be distracted from that purpose for our soul.
As humans with free will, emotions and feelings, we have our mind usually filled with wants and needs of the body. We seem to be up or down emotionally depending on what is happening to us at any moment. That is because we are focused on “me, myself and I”. We are frequently in a state of unrest because we care too much what other souls may think of us. When we become too filled with this world, our souls have little or no time for God.
God wants to change our focus from earthy things to heavenly hope. Salvation was provided to those who believed upon Him, His gift of eternal life through his begotten son, Jesus. God then gives us “spirit”. Our “soul” is the core and root part of us that God created and where His Spirit resides, and this is where God imparts His Strength, Comfort and Power to help us and guide us through life (see 1 Peter 2:25 (ESV). The spirit is God’s way of guiding the soul into a non-earthy path. It is the only connection, a spiritual path, to communicate with Christ- through the spirit. The results of a life of faith and attention to Christ makes us “spiritually focused” vs earthly focused. The function of the spirit is spiritual, thus the only way to connect to Christ—and all the gifts of connection. Thus, we start living more like Christ than just a mere human earth-bound soul that is lost in sin and condemned.
Our soul: emotions, feelings, heart, free will—can praise God. Yet, the spirit, (given to us once we believe) is the pathway in which we can love God, receive His love, rejoice in his Being, commune at a deep level, hear his voice, and walk more righteously, etc. Following the lead of His spirit, we can find rest for our souls. The heavenly things are eternal and unchangeable when we live before God, seeking his approval foremost. We then are free from people and the everyday unrest that comes from living in the pursuit of their approval and earthly pleasures.
There are two things God has given to mankind (His Creation) that will never pass away or perish, and they are, “His Word” and “Our Soul” both are eternal. Do not offend the One who could cause you to lose eternity.