For today’s post, I
am going to briefly brush on the topic of the soul. I would like to share
some very basic personal observations about how our current culture views the
soul as well as how the Bible uses the soul in its truth. I’m not going
to lie, as “simple” as this topic may seem it is anything but that. The soul in
itself is such a deep-dwelling part of us. For this very reason we need to
understand that while we are physical beings, God created us with a part that
cannot be seen or touched, but is very much felt, and is therefore just as
important to understand as the rest of ourselves.
For all intensive
purposes, I am going to write out the falsity of culture and then counter with
a Scripture and explanation. I would like to share three of my own
observations, although I’m sure there are many, many more. (Bear with me,
it’s late and my daughter has been having crazy allergies for nearly a month
now! When Baby doesn’t sleep, Mommy and Daddy don’t sleep…)
While I do say the
phrase “YOLO” occasionally, the basic lie that culture feeds us is that you
should take the opportunity to revel in the pleasures of life because when
you’re gone you will have missed out. Don’t get me wrong, God wants us to
enjoy the life He’s given us, but I’m talking about sin. Many justify
their sin by their unbelief in an eternal soul. I don’t know how many
times I’ve heard someone say, “Well, I’m going to Hell anyways, so I may as
well enjoy the ride.” You see, the thing is, I don’t think these people really
believe in Hell. I don’t think they really believe that anything will
happen, because if they did, I would hope they would care a little bit
more. This Bible verse asks us one of the most important questions in life.
What’s the point of it all if in the end we lose our soul? You can enjoy life, you can even live a good life with maybe just a
sprinkling of sin, and it will all be in vain if your soul is lost. Ouch.
That’s tough to swallow. Our soul is worth much more than the shell
we call the body and the short time we will live this life. Enjoy
life, but not at the expense of your soul’s destination.
The greatest
commandment in all of Scripture, as summed up by Jesus himself, is that we are
to love God with our hearts, SOULS, and minds. This is our purpose in
life. We were created for a relationship with God. He wants us to
love him and to let Him love us. Our culture can’t deny the feelings we
have as human beings, but it will often deny the existence of a soul because
having a soul points to something much more complex: a God who would
create beings with the capacity to love Him and to experience His mercy and
grace not just in this life, but for eternity. This is our purpose in
life. If we didn’t have souls and were just physical beings with simple
feelings and without the undeniable innate desire for love and to live a
fulfilling life, we wouldn’t differ very much from our furry little friends. And if you’re wondering if I believe animals have souls, well, again it’s
late and I’m not going there right now. For some reason I keep thinking
of the little Ewoks from Star Wars. They’re so cute, and I think they
have souls. And Chewbacca. Him too. Haha. This was getting so
serious I thought I needed to add a little humor. =)
This is like the
holy grail of Bible verses to show us that God’s word is Truth. When I
went to Bible college we learned that the collection of letters, prophecies,
prose, poetry, sermons, et cetera we call the Bible are known as the Canon.
Canon means “ruler,” or a device by which to compare and measure.
It is a standard that all else should be compared to. It is
God-breathed. It is His truth, and therefore our truth. When you
claim to be a Christian, but you don’t believe that the Gospel is truth, you
are infiltrated with the idea that truth is subjective, and you are opened up
to the lies of our culture and the Father of all Lies. This relates to
the soul because when we understand that God’s truth should guide our souls
through life we can stand on the sweet voice of the Holy Spirit and his Word to
help us live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God, edifying to each
other, and fulfilling our deepest desire to be loved by the one who loves us
most. That was a mouthful. And hopefully not a run-on sentence wow
that would be bad. See what I did there?
So, what do we do
with all of this?
I personally have no problem believing in the existence
of the soul, but I have struggled with my purpose in life as well as absolute
truth. I have also experienced a grace that is so undeserved, a love so
unconditional, and a God who is so faithful that I know I can stand on his
Truth. I know I’m not perfect, and so does God. No surprise there,
but in a world that screams, “FLESH!” we know that there is something so much
deeper than our flesh and its desires. We have a soul with a longing for
something bigger. If you find yourself battling the desires of this
world, but want to connect your soul with our Creator, I would encourage you to
look more into Scripture. You will find how deeply God loves us and wants
to be connected with us, and that He means so much more for us than what this
world has to offer.
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