Inside Out - Soul

Continuing our series that started with Shadowboxing and then moved to Inside out - Spirit, we come to the next area where discipline is much needed because this one, whether we admit it or not, is most often the one in control of our lives – our soul. The Word says:-

May your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus" - I Thessalonians 5:23

The soul is that which the dictionary defines as “a person's moral or emotional nature, or sense of identity” but what I would simply put as, our heart, mind & will. To elaborate, the place where all our feelings, emotions, thoughts and responses originate. This part is so important that I can't help but say, the soul matter is the sole matter.

I don’t know about all of you, but reining in this area was tough for me. When I look at my life, I can clearly see differences in how I responded to situations when I had practiced the disciplining of my soul, as opposed to when I had lost that discipline. There have been times I was surprised at how I didn’t feel as hurt, angry, or offended as I thought I would be, and that, I realized was an outcome of discipline.

These differences became so clear because when you spend a long time being governed by God’s spirit, it spills over to your soul and you end up thinking you are this amazingly calm person with a wonderful personality that everyone likes. You believe that's who you are and forget who you were before you had an encounter with God. In my fallen state, all that I was before I came to know Jesus, came flooding back… the insecure thoughts, the lack of self-worth, extreme need of love and validation from those around me (possibly to do with middle child syndrome) and the list goes on.

I am going to go back to the analogy of our body, because that is what our generation relates a lot to. If you don’t rein in, constantly keep check, and discipline your body, you may let go and fall back into those old unhealthy patterns and you will be left wondering how that happened. It’s the same with our soul, if we allow things that we know will affect our heart and mind, we can fall back into old patterns of thinking and living. But just like our body, I believe the weakest hearts or minds can be disciplined and strengthened when brought under the power of God’s Spirit & Word.

Considering the fact that I turned a year older recently, I think I am somewhere in the middle of my soul searching journey. So, with my limited/vast experience, depending on how old you are, I am going to put three things that needs immediate attention with respect to disciplining our soul.

1) Self-awareness - Be aware of how you are – I am not sayin “who you are” – We can establish that “you are the child of the Most High God” and be rest assured of that aspect. I am talking about how you are – How are you when you are with your family? How are you when you are with your friends? How are you when you are with your church? How are you when you are by yourself? How are you when placed in a stressful situation? – This is actually on the lines of a favorite HR question that even my mentor has asked me – “What does your Dad think of you? What does your mom think of you? What about your siblings? And finally what do you think of yourself?” Self-awareness is defined as “conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires” – and this is important. If we are not aware of our limitation, then we can easily find ourselves in places and situations that can spiral out of our control because sometimes we forget that we have a very real enemy out there who is looking at ways to make us fall.

If you noticed I used the word “limitation” and not “weakness” because I don’t think anyone likes to think they are weak in a certain area. We like to think we can handle it or some even take it as a challenge and there is nothing wrong with that. But we should be mindful of the challenges we pick by once again being aware of our limitations. Recently, I used a few steps to be more self-aware by talking to a few close friends and asking them what they thought of me (I got some interesting feedback from my mentors and friends from church and college), taking time to assess some incidents in life and drawing lessons from it (this one is hard and needs you to pause, be still and be brutally honest), being attentive to things I do or say casually that may have been offensive previously (weighing things so we could do better). If you find repetitive patterns in life, situations or in relationships, this may be a good discipline to develop. These are also great just to do on a regular basis because we are constantly going through new phases, places and people and this is a good practice to know ourselves better in the journey of life. The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out. – Proverbs 20:5

2) Exercise God’s Word – The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9. That is not how we like to think of our hearts at all. Some versions say “desperately wicked” or “corruptible” and while I am most unhappy to burst anyone’s bubble here, specially since my own bubble was burst too – I will have to agree. Sometimes, there are things that our hearts want, to which even our logical mind says “Ok now you are just being silly“ or “that's just wrong”. We are good people for the most part, but if not ruled by the right doctrines, a handful of us is enough to turn the world upside down. So, I decided to go by this verse “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” – Proverbs 4:23. And no, this is not only for the teenager who is considering dating someone, this is for everyone at all ages and at all times. Keep repeating it, meditating on it, when you see that romantic movie or hear that song that gives you “the feels” or when something reminds you of “those Egypt days” or your colleague’s or neighbor’s new “next thing”. “Godliness with contentment is great gain” - 1 Timothy 6:6 – Exercise The Word.

Now that the heart is sorted, it will take care of your feelings & emotions and we can move on to the mind. The mind is where the battle of thoughts and responses take place. There is a book by Joyce Meyer called “Battlefield of the mind” and as the title says, we have to be ready to fight back against the things that we feed or are fed as we do life in this world. While heart needs to be guarded, our mind is all about the fight - the reasoning and debating of things and finally choosing. Job 7:15 says, “My soul would choose,” and 6:7 says, “My soul refuses.” To choose and to refuse are both decisions and functions. What you believe in is key here because you reason things out based on that, and so, knowledge of The Word is vital. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” – Romans 12:2. The practice of keeping our mind focused on God’s Word brings a calm and quiet to our soul in a way like no other. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isaiah 26:3

3) Get back on the saddle – This is definitely the one I struggle the most with. I struggle to get back on track as far as disciplining my soul is concerned. My heart and mind seem to be a law unto themselves at times. Paul says “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” – 1 Corinthians 7:15-19. Well if Paul himself says it, then the struggle is indeed real, but he kept at it and he goes on to say, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind". And there you have it… the war within our mind & heart – our soul, is constant. You may win at times and you may lose at times… In fact, in the beginning you may lose more than you win, but don’t give up! I am certain you were hurt when you fell but get on back up, my friend. Because, as Paul continues to lament, he also knows he has the victory and so do we…“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” and that is final. As long as you are ready to war, He will go into the battle before you… all He needs is a willing heart and mind - A soul that trusts in Him. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him; for God is our refuge. – Psalm 62:8

I didn't elaborate on "our will" because none of this is possible without us first wanting this change in our lives...without being willing to take that decision. The thing that always humbles me is that when God created man, He gave us free will. At times, it has been our downfall in terms of the decisions and choices we make, but He gave us the full freedom to choose - because that's what real love does - it gives us the freedom to choose.

"Our soul was created as a region of vast mystery and beauty, filled with memories and capacities far beyond the reckoning of the average persons educated in the scientific era. It is a very real thing and can be wounded deeply, as anyone who is heartbroken can tell you". - John Eldredge

In a recent bible study, a group of us were discussing which is our favorite verse from Psalm 23. I noticed a majority of us ended up saying verse 3 - "He restores my soul" I believe there is a reason that this one strikes a chord in our hearts and it’s because we want it more than anything today - to be restored in our soul. So let us make the effort to invest time in nourishing our soul earnestly and diligently.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul - Psalm 23:1-3