As I sit here sipping my coffee, my heart is heavy for our world… for my friends… for my family.
I have not known what to write lately, or how to write it. Events seem to be taking place so fast, I can’t keep up with all the developments in the media and I am not sure I could emotionally handle every development anyway.
There are so many topics I could address in this post; however, I have to ask myself, “What is the most important aspect of life at this given moment?”
The answer might seem simple, yet profound… our souls.
The one person I can change is myself and the one question I can ask myself is “How is my soul?”
When I look at my soul through the eyes of the world- I don’t see much wrong. It’s always easier to justify our condition when we compare it to the condition of whoever we deem the “vilest” of society, isn’t it? If one has never committed murder, all they have to do is look at a murderer and say “I am better,” but the Word of God says in John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer…”
If one has never committed adultery physically, all they have to do is look at an adulterer and they say “I am better,” but the Word of God says in Matthew 5:28, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
If one has never acted on the things they have thought of, but yet meditates on sinful thoughts, all they have to do is look at someone who has acted on their evil impulses and say, “I am better,” but Word of God says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
So what conclusion can we come to?
No one is better than anyone and the root of sin can not be found in behavior, but in the soul.
For the Word of God says in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts–murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”
Or you may have heard it this way from James 1:15, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Where does desire start? The heart. The soul. The chasm between what we physically feel and know and what we emotionally feel and know. That expanse of mystery that man has contemplated for years.
C.S. Lewis, who lived his life as an atheist early on and later converted to Christianity once said,
“We don’t have a soul. We are a soul. We happen to have a body.”
He also wrote, ”
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
So we can also conclude this: the mind, body and soul are all connected, yet the soul drives them all.
What if we really wanted to improve ourselves? Who would we look to? The murderer. The thief. The adulterer.
The truth is… there are many labels we ourselves could wear, but we don’t. We don’t label ourselves, we only label others.
Are others our compass?
Surely not!
Jesus is.
Surely, the only difference in the souls of men is the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit.
When we look at our souls through the lenses of God… well… my soul could use some serious work. The reason I can recognize the sin in my soul is because the Holy Spirit reveals this sin to me.
This past couple of months has been a roller coaster of emotion for many of us and the demons lurk in the shadows snickering, waiting to devour their next victim of fear, hate, doubt…
I have to admit to you all as of the past couple of days I have found the world seeping back in to my life through my television, social media and my own thoughts.
But there is some things I can always go back to… the Word of God and the question, “How is my soul today?”
Christ never changes.
May we anchor our soul to the Unchanging Rock during our quest through turbulent waters, remembering that the hope our souls lies in a risen Savior and a home not of this world.
My prayers are with us all.
Work Cited Websites Only:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/862118-we-don-t-have-a-soul-we-are-a-soul-we
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/462154-the-christian-says-creatures-are-not-born-with-desires-unless#:~:text=If%20I%20find%20in%20myself,the%20universe%20is%20a%20fraud.