Take Care of Your Soul

by Alexandra Copeland

Your soul and your spirit are not the same. They are distinct, separate components that make up the whole of you. 1Thessalonians 5:23(NLT) says, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” We know from Genesis 1:26 that we are made in the image of God. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 1Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that we are spirit, soul, and body. God instructs us to keep all three parts of us blameless, and we should know that He would not tell us to do something without also empowering us to get it done. 

I have always found it interesting that people can believe rather easily in the miraculous fact that their physical bodies started from an organism you can’t even see without a microscope. Yet, most will not bring themselves to trust in the new birth reality of their spirits through Jesus Christ. Both begin outside the parameters of physical eyesight. Both are miraculous, and both are required to move from this level of life to a greater level of life. 

Our physical bodies were made to accommodate an existence on earth. They provide us the blessed opportunity to respond to God and His love, and to be conduits of His love towards others. 1Corinthians 6:19 (NLT) tells us, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.” Our bodies are temples and they provide housing for our human spirit, human soul, and the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of God. 

2Corinthians 5:17(NLT) tells us, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” The ‘new life’ to which this verse refers is life in the Spirit! It’s impossible to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit without being born again. Jesus Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:3(NLT), “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” So, the ‘old life’ is the life we had when our human spirits were not born again; they were not alive to Christ. We were walking around with a dead spirit. 

After our new birth reality in Christ, our human spirit is recreated. It is made brand new, and is then a proper dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. The soul, however, is not made brand new. The soul is the human mind, heart, and will. God instructed us to renew our minds to His Word, and to allow His Word to saturate our hearts. In Romans 12:2, He tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is a choice. He will not come into our bodies and start moving the bad stuff out and putting the good stuff in. He has told us to do this, but He will not FORCE us to get it done. Again, it’s our choice, honor, and privilege to put on the mind of Christ and to walk by his example. 

God has given every human being free-will. We can think, act, and speak whatever, however, whenever we please. He will never overstep the gift of free-will that He’s given us. Romans 11:29 tells us that the gifts of God will never be withdrawn. 

We should also know that it’s possible to have the gift of Holy Spirit dwelling inside our body temples and still have negative, sinful habit patterns that are contrary to God’s Will. Jesus Christ took care of our sin issue on the cross, but many of us do not walk in the fullness of all that he accomplished. We’ve been made new, but our souls are still clinging to that old dead life. To the extent that it is, we have to make some changes, because we don’t get to go higher without shedding something in our souls that is harmful OR no longer useful to our spiritual journeys. The baggage of it is too heavy to travel as light as our Lord and Master requires. 

We are so self-centered that we believe in order to take care of our souls we have to pamper them. Many people’s definition of soul-care is not basking in the light of Christ, but basking their bodies in luxury. They’ve got it twisted. God tells us that the way to take care of our souls is to give them His kind of exercise—to give them a rigorous workout. Philippians 2:12-13 The Message (MSG) gives us just the visual we need. It tells us, “What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.”

Earth is good grooming ground for our souls. Life here allows us to prepare for what is to come after our earth experience. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves about the baggage we’re clinging to. Sometimes it’s toxic relationships, addictions, phobias, or bad thoughts. God has placed His Spirit within us because inside is where we need Him most. He has a front row seat of the things we need to surrender, and if we will release them to Jesus Christ and have faith, the Holy Spirit will work within us as we commit to lighten our load and put on the newness that Christ offers. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.