A Well Soul
What is a well soul to you?
Is it when everything goes as you planned it?
Is it when the people you want affirmation from the most affirm you no matter what?
Is the soul the same as your spirit?
Scripture communicates the importance of the soul and its distinction between Spirit and body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe the soul incorporates the mind, where our thoughts and imaginations occur. It also involves the heart, where we feel things deeply and remember them easily. Yes, the heart has a memory, too. From this place, our will is activated.
If we look to the wrong sources for the health and well-being of our souls, we are only asking for trouble, and we will end up blaming others for our lack of well-being.
Think about this for just a moment. Jesus was misunderstood, mistreated, and persecuted by the very people He came to save, betrayed, falsely accused, and put to death on the cross. He went through all this without suffering the loss of a well soul.
Heroes of the faith have also managed to endure difficult situations and emerge from them with well souls.
There are some very sobering words spoken in Scripture.
Romans 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
When Christ is not the source of a soul’s well-being, then that soul is playing the lottery, so to speak, with regard to any hope of a consistent sense of well-being.
Disappointments will come, and they will even come through people we love and hold dear. Jesus is the only one who does not disappoint when we see Him correctly as He is and welcome His love into our lives. If we put our trust in a Jesus we make up ourselves, we will be disappointed, but the true Christ will never disappoint.
Romans 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
I want my affirmation, consolation, and sense of well-being to come from my being in Christ and knowing Him and His love for me. I meditate on Him for this reason. I have experienced a lot of drama in my life, including losses of loved ones, betrayals, and people not turning out to be who they presented themselves to be. Through all of this, the only thing that has kept my soul is Jesus. He is faithful even when we are faithless. I encourage you to let Him be the source of your soul’s well-being today and always.
