SOUL CARE

 

 

 

 

 

When one of the religious scribes asked Jesus which commandment is most important, He answered: “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”

(Mark 12:28–30)

 

When you Google the definition of Soul Google defines it as “the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.” There is also evidently “Chicken Soup” for the soul and it has been said that the eyes are the window to the soul.

So, what exactly is God trying to tell us when he say’s to love him with all of our Soul?

Jesus says in Matthew chapter 16 that “for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul”? I believe it’s important to take a look at the original meaning of the words in the Hebrew and Greek.

In the Hebrew language the word used for Soul is Nephesh which is the feminine noun use of the word. It means: living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite or emotion. The greek word defines Soul as (a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b) the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self and finally a human person, an individual. The Greek for Soul interestingly enough is psuché which kind of looks like Pysche doesn’t it? The phonetic Spelling is “psoo-khay'”.

So, when God created Adam he formed him from the dust of the earth and gave him life by breathing into him creating a literal Soul Creature. The breath of life from God himself + the dust of the earth and all that we are made of creates the Soul. I/We are souls. When God commands us to love him with our Soul he means literally to love him as one created by God. To love him with everything we are and with everything we have.

Soul sounds so deep and untouchable. When I first visualized “Soul” I had this picture in my mind of a ghost. But that is not the real deal here. Me/You…We are the soul. So how do you love with your soul?

To love the Lord with all your soul means to love Him in the way we live, in the choices we make and in the behavior and lifestyle we adopt. 

We are to love God with our:

·         Passions / Hungers

·         Perceptions

·         Thoughts

 We are also to love him with how we:

·         Talk

·         What we do with our hands

·         How we utilize our talents, gifts and strengths

·         How we react to challenges

·         Our entire being is to display that we love God.

So What Now:

Think about the choices you make every day. Choices flow from what we treasure. Start by asking yourself some questions.

·         What turns your motor on and gets you going?

·         What are you passionate about?

·         What are you hungry for?

·         Does the object of your passion have mastery over you? Are you worshipping an Idol of some sort?

·         How is your heart?

·         Is it causing a gap in your relationship with the Lord?

·         How about your perceptions? Do you see the world as it really is? Is your perception of the world Christ centered, based on biblical truth? A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world.

·         What is your framework for making sense of life? The good, the bad, the ugly.

·         How do you respond to challenges, obstacles, difficulty or suffering and pain?

·        Your talents or gifts. How are you using them? Are you using them for the sole purpose of personal gain? What’s your motivation?

·         Are you even using your gifts or just living each day until you get to Friday so you can call it quits.

Your thoughts: Garbage in Garbage out. What are you putting into your head? Are you filling it with garbage?

Soul Care Pillars

·         Prayer - James 1, Philippians 4, James 1, Psalm 131

·         Spiritual Friendship, Community-Ephesians 4:16, Galatians 6

·         Solitude/Silence - Psalm 46, Mark 1:35-37

·         Soul Searching - Psalm 139:23-24, 1 John 1

·         Journaling-Your soul is alive and has a quality of life ... Journaling is a good tool to use to care for your soul.

Now when Jesus says “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul.” It means something even deeper than just some weird Ghost of you that sits behind your eyeballs looking out at the world.

 

Begin the day by asking how your soul is? How is it?

·         Does anything have mastery over you?

·         What am I valuing today?

·         Do I have a toxic mindset?

·         Are their toxic influences in my life?

·         Do I have an toxic attitudes?

·         Is there any negative self talk I’m listening to?

 Take care of your soul and love God with all your soul.

 

Have Faith, Live Free, Live Fearlessly

Gordon