The Need for Soul Searching

Are you still with me? Great!  I know this time of the year is extremely busy, but I would like for us to take some time out to look into our souls. When was the last time you did some soul searching?   The Bible describes us as being made up of three essential parts, body, soul and spirit: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ   (I Thes 5:23). Our bodies are world conscious; we relate to the world through our physical bodies.  Our spirits are God conscious; we have the capacity to relate to and communicate with God through our spirit. Prior to salvation this spirit is dead, but when we accept Jesus, He makes our spirit come alive: And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). Our souls are self conscious,  we relate to ourselves through it. 

Let's peek into the soul to first understand its anatomy. Our souls are the innermost part of our beings . In our souls lie our personality, will, and emotions.  The soul is described as the seat of our emotions. The Bible even attributes the emotions of God to His soul. He experiences pleasure in Matthew 12:18. and in Is 42:1 He expresses Behold my servant in whom my soul delights, while in Lev 26:20 He says his soul shall abhor you.

It is important to note that initially our souls (our emotions, will and personality)  are attached to our old flesh nature (all the sinful self centered desires, impulses, longings).  It is not until the word of God begins to operate in our lives that the soul begins to experience "some" separation from the old nature and starts to have "some" attachment to the new nature (our spirits which have been made alive and enables us to communicate with God and to desire the things of God): The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart - Heb 4:12.  The process of detaching the soul's connection from the old nature and attaching it to the new nature is a lifelong process (progressive sanctification) that is why Paul prayed in IThes 5:23 for the sanctification of the soul. 

Understanding the anatomy of our souls is essential.  Too often we operate and react to life's conflicts and difficulties based upon what is in our souls, and not what is in the scriptures.  We do things based upon how we feel instead of what God's word requires; operating on emotions, which still has connections to our old flesh nature instead of the truth of His word and the new nature which finds delight in pleasing God. The Psalmist in Psalm 42 was experiencing this conflict between his faith and feelings, so he had a conversation with his soul:  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance - Ps 42:5 . He was in the wilderness on the run, feeling  depressed and discouraged in his soul, yet the faith in his spirit (new nature) says he should have confidence and hope in God. He chose to operate based on faith (yet will I praise Him) and not his feelings of despair.  But the just shall live by his faith - Hab 2:4. 

There are times when I know what the word says but how I feel in my soul is in conflict with what God is asking me to do. How do we learn to live by faith and not our feelings? How do we learn to pray for our enemies, forgive those who betray us, bless those who despitefully use us, or be kind to those that are not nice to us? How can we...when in our souls we feel hurt, anger, and rejected?  If we are going to live lives that are pleasing to our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, we must learn to operate based on faith and not our feelings.  So we must deal with the stuff that is in our soul!

During this part of our journey, and over the next few posts we will continue to dig deeper into the soul. I hope you will commit to dig with me.  We will learn the importance of:  peeking into our soul so we are aware of what's in it,  pouring out our soul before the Lord so He can heal what ails it, and learn why we must protect our souls from fleshly appetites and attitudes, and put into our souls affections for things above.  

soul searching,
​Diane

p.s. This week let's ask the Lord to make us aware when our feelings don't line up with His word and to desire to accept His truth over our feelings. 

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