Soul Health

Body Soul and Spirit

Spirit connects to the soul and the physical body is also connected to the soul

We are a whole being - our spirit is made alive and renewed in Christ - John 3 - Jesus speaks to Nicodemus and talks about rebirth, by the Spirit, whereby pour spirit is reborn, by the power of the Holy Spirit

John 3:5-8 NLT
Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. [6] Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. [7] So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.' [8] The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians about being a new creation.

 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

This is an instantly newly created spirit and an ongoing work of new creation which takes place through the soul

We tend to think of the soul as the mind the will and the emotions, the part of our being that is not physical and yet the physical and the spiritual have immense and considerable impact on the health of our souls.

There is now quite a bit of research that says what we eat affects the internal gut biology and this impacts directly on the health, not just of our physical body but our overall mental health and wellbeing.

The words used for soul and spirit with the soul referring to the inner being of the person, the mind, the seat of the senses, the affections and the emotions. The souls is the area where decisions are made.

Mary - Luke 3 - My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit (that which relates to God) rejoices in God - notice that the soul here is about the decision made to honour God that brings a rejoicing to the spirit.

The 23rd Psalm - a great example of God's interest in our souls as well as our spirit.

Psalm 23:1-6 NLT
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. [2] He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.

[3] He renews my strength.He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. [4] Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

[5] You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. [6] Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

The psalmist speaks of God restoring the soul and leading us to places that allow our souls to be restored and to be made whole. Let's look more at Psalm 23 because it is helpful in modelling a path to a healthy soul life.

Notice that the psalmist starts with a sense of gratitude to God - in him we have no needs because God has supplied them - a heart of Gratitude  - now backed up by medical science, is helpful; for the soul 

(Paul the Apostle also had this same sense of gratitude  - praying - be thankful for what God has done, learning to be content with much or little etc.)

Philippians 4:6-8 NLT
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. [8] And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:11 NLT
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.

Notice that in Psalm 23 - the Lord is leading and guiding  - the word used here for lead is different to that used later - it is lead with a sense of care and specifically leading to a place of refreshment

God wants to lead us to these places.

The idea of still water -now I like the ocean and its hurly burly but the psalmist didn't have access to the ocean - but he did find that wonderful thing - a place of stillness, a place of rest, a place where the body can relax and the mind can unwind.

Maintaining a healthy soul doesn't just happen - it's helpful to find space to build a healthy soul. The decisions we make about how we live will impact the health of injuries soul.

Taking time to rest, taking time to move away from the noise and crowd is necessary to restore our well being. 

Some things I've learnt that are by no means the be all and the end all but touch on what I have personally found helpful

1. Take responsibility
We are ultimately responsible for our own soul health

Galatians 6:4-5 NLT
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. [5] For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

The Greek means responsible for the "Faults of the conscience which oppress the soul." In other words we are responsible for dealing with the stuff on our life that negatively impact the soul.

Now lots of things impact on us - the things that people have said to us or done to us in the past impact our soul and can damage our soul

Most of us would have experienced that to some degree - so people - be kind - speak well to your children, be nice to others - lose the derogatory remarks etc.

We can be people who build others up and not tear them down - the words we speak, will speak life or death

But ultimately we are responsible for dealing with that stuff and restoring the soul.

So for whatever reason we take stuff on, it's important to look at the relationships we have and protect ourselves from the toxic ones as much as we can.

No-one else is responsible

2. Develop awareness
Of what is going on around you and within you - thinking patterns

Also, what words are you speaking over your own life - these are more damaging and can speak life and death to the soul.

Be aware of the patterns of thinking that we have developed.

Prov 23:7 - talks about the way a person thinks and its connection to who we are or become.

As a man thinks, so is he.

The really good news here of course is that we can change those thinking habits - Renewal of mind

Romans 12:2-3 NLT
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. [3] Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Ephesians 4:20-24 NLT
But that isn't what you learned about Christ. [21] Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, [22] throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. [23] Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. [24] Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy.

The area in psychology of mindfulness - it is all about being aware of what is happening around us and how we are reacting to it.

Previously I've spoken about this and Dr Carolyn Leaf has a great deal of information on this as do many other neuroscientists.

But there is a really helpful process she outlines which is all about being aware of the thoughts that go through our mind, and allowing them to come, examining them and then looking for patterns in thinking

Clearly we want to develop the positive and limit the negative

What if we've developed a negative pattern?

The good news is that once we are aware of it, we can change it - our minds can be transformed, changed by choosing to be aware of those patterns of thinking that are destructive. 

Luke 12:29-30 NLT
"And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. [30] These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs.

2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT
We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

Romans 8:5-6 NLT
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. [6] So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

God has, through his Spirit, given us a way to think and to allow our minds to be renewed and changed. Its a daily decision to make to let God's Spirit show us where change in thinking is needed and then to act on it. 

And as we become aware of the patterns we can learn to catch the thoughts that are damaging to our thinking, our mind and our emotions - the areas of our soul.

We are able to see if they are helpful and choose to accept or not accept them - but always have something to replace it with -

 Philippians 4:8 NLT
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

give an example here - people and friends

What patterns of thinking have you developed?

3. Acknowledge emotions
But don't allow them to dictate your decisions

Emotions are really important and learning to acknowledge them is crucial to our soul health - if we supress our emotions we internalise and our soul becomes unwell. Just as we can discover patterns of thinking we can learn the patterns of emotion.

The two are connected. How can we harness our emotions without them disabling us or overtaking us.?

Rational mind v emotional mind. Imagine a venn diagram of two overlapping circles where the overlap is the wise mind.

What we want is the wise mind - in other words - thinking that is based on truth but includes the emotions without suppressing them but also not allowing them to dictate the decision. 

We tend to two ways - we try to hide emotion or discount it, or we allow it to fall out everywhere and spew on top of others - sometimes one leads to the other - example - dealing with anger - grief etc.

Emotions are an indictor of soul health. Being more or less emotional is often an indication of things not being right. Learning to recognise emotions helps us understand what is going on for us, why we are reacting in a particular way etc,

Use reflection to understand the patterns and process that are connected with emotions. It's important to allow us to express appropriate emotions in different situations.

It's ok to let yourself feel joy, happiness, sadness, pain, fear and to know their role in how they help us and protect us - and learning what is healthy for us.

The movie Inside Out reflected this need to be aware and that our emotions are important. We need our emotions.

Decisions in our mind - lead to action and exercise of our will

Psalm 42:5 NIV
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Allow the rational mind and the emotions to be included, then make a decision which will lead to a more positive behaviour

Psalm 42:11 NIV
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Decisions that are solely based on emotion can have serious consequences - but decisions which include emotions - and how other people might be affected by them will be better decisions worth a more positive outcome for our soul heath (and the health of others).

4. Choose Forgiveness
The heavy one

Forgiveness is powerful for soul health. There is something wonderful asn't begging forgiven if we understand the pet of it. 

1 John 1:9 NLT
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

We seek forgiveness for our stuff and God is faithful. In the save way we are forgiven, we are called to forgive, and forgiving otters is also powerful and important for the health of our soul

Matthew 18:21-22 NLT
Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" [22] "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!

Matthew 18:32-34 NLT
Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. [33] Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' [34] Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

Unforgiveness is like a prison that holds us. Just as the unforgiving servant was thrown in gaol, undisturbed locks us up. Maybe not physically but it is a weight we carry that is damaging too our wellbeing, damaging to putt soul. 

Unforgiveness is like a weight that we carry and choosing to release that weight is powerful, freeing and creates space in our thinking for what is really important.

Example of the bricks - bricks are heavy and difficult to hold and carry round long term. In the same way, unforgiveness is also heavy and weighs down oyr soul. Forgiveness releases the weight and frees the soul.

Forgiveness frees the soul to deal with other things - removes the trash - when I put the garbage out and its collected its no longer my garbage.

When we forgive - the stuff we've held on to is like that garbage  - it no longer affects us. Jesus tells us to forgive because we are forgiven.

Matthew 6:11-15 NLT
Give us today the food we need, [12] and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. [13] And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. [14] "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. [15] But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Colossians 3:12-13 NLT
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. [13] Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

He has  freed us from the weight of sin - in response we forgive others - let it go - regardless of whether or not its asked for

This is the hard one because our sense of justice says the other person should pay - but with unforgiveness we end up continuing to pay for the other persons stuff.

Let go of bitterness = let your soul be free to focus on what is good for it

Forgiveness allows us to let go of other people's stuff and frees us to take on God's purpose.  

5. Create space
To do what energises and refreshes you

Psalm 39:6-7 NLT
We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. [7] And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.

David's words.

Busy rushing ends in nothing. 

The Psalmist lay down in peaceful green pastures - the opposite of busy rushing.

What refreshes you?

Be deliberate - create time to make it happen

Music, reading, walking, getting out in nature

What is it that allows you to take a breath - to stop, to remove yourself from the "busyness" of life and to just breathe - to take time with God for sure - Jesus did that - but also to allow your brain to stop whirling, and your allow your body to relax.

Soul Health is necessary for long term productivity. Being intentional with soul health also  means we are able to pursue God's call and live his purpose.