Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
3 JOHN 2
There is no doubt that a healthy soul (meaning our mind, will, and emotions) is crucial in order to run to win. Many people with great spiritual gifts and even great health have had their destinies sabotaged simply because they have never learned to manage their emotions, their wills, or their thought lives.
Some Christians make the mistake of thinking that Christianity is all about changing the way we behave (doing certain things because we consider them to be “good” or “righteous” and avoiding other things that we judge to be “bad” or “sinful”). But Christianity far transcends external behavior modification. Christianity is not all about rules and regulations, wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, etc. It is about an internal “heart” transformation. This means that our minds, wills, and emotions have to be submitted to the Holy Spirit so that he can begin to change us from the inside out. We can’t give our hearts to Christ and then let our emotions or thought lives run out of control.
In the same way that we apply discipline to our bodies, we also need to exercise discipline in the realm of our souls. We have to face the issues that so often dominate our thoughts and feelings — such as brokenness, unforgiveness, bitterness, rejection, lust, greed, envy, hurt, and anger — and bring them into line with God’s Word. Otherwise, we are in danger of sabotaging our destinies.
Many people are not using their spiritual gifts to their full potential because they suffer from unresolved issues in their souls. They constantly let themselves down because their emotional issues are never resolved. This soul-weakness is an Achilles’ heel that will eventually take them out of their race. We simply have to learn to deal with unresolved issues in our past in order to ensure a healthy soul life and therefore a healthy future.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Are there any unresolved soul issues weighing you down and potentially keeping you from your destiny?