You may have heard it been said that to live a healthy lifestyle, you should be healthy in your body, mind, and spirit. That is an accurate statement, but what is more accurate is to be healthy in your body, soul, and spirit, because we are composed of these three. We were created in the image of God, and He is three in one. In that likeness, He made us three in one, possessing a body, soul, and spirit. So, to be healthy, we must strive for a healthy mind and soul. Our soul is comprised of our mind, will, and emotions. To have a healthy mind we need to experience healthy emotions and make healthy decisions. Decisions are an exercise of our will. Unhealthy emotions can lead to unhealthy decisions.
How do we develop a healthy soul?
What is the process of undergoing “soul health”? As with the body and spirit, it begins with the right diet and exercise. As you put healthy food in your body, foods that God creates (such as fruits, vegetables, protein, whole grains that are low in carbs and gluten-free) your body responds positively to that healthy diet. The Bible says in Mark 9:23, “Let food be thy medicine.” Healthy food heals the body. Also, as you exercise your body, it gets stronger and more flexible. Likewise, in order to have a healthy spirit, you need to have a regular diet of the Bread of Life, which is Bible verses. As you digest God’s Word, it brings healing to your spirit. Exercising your spirit through prayer and worship also strengthens you in your spirit. Waiting on the Lord renews your strength and allows you to soar on wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, and walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31). So what about the soul?
Let me start with an analogy. The temple of the Old Testament was made up of three architectural structures, one within the other. First, there was the outer court, then as you moved inward, you came to the inner court, and finally you moved inside the Temple called the Holy Place. Isn’t it interesting the temple is three in one. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The outer court represents your body. The inner court represents your soul, and the Holy Place is your spirit. Within the Holy Place was the Holy of Holies, which is where the Presence of God dwelt. Likewise, His spirit lives deep within your spirit. This is the place where the Bible says you and He are one. Christ is in you!
How to protect both your body and soul.
All along the outer court (your body) are gates. In order to protect both your body and soul, you have to be careful what you let in those gates. You must guard your gates! What are those gates? They are your eyes, ears, and mouth. What we let in through our eyes and ears will reach our inner court (our soul) and will affect our mind and heart (emotions) and eventually move our mouths, hands and feet (our will). “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). Meaning everything you do flows from it. Matthew 12:34 says, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Everything we do and say comes from our heart.
We must supply our hearts and minds with a healthy diet.
God’s Word is the best place to start. It is in His Word that Jesus is revealed. We need to understand Jesus. Jesus is the Gate. Have you opened the gate? Do you see Him the way you should? “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep do not listen to them.” (John 10:6-8). We must be careful of other gates (thieves and robbers) that try to expose us to harmful and sinful things. These other gates come in the form of media that we may read, watch, and listen. We must be very careful of what we let in through the gates of our eyes and ears. The news and television are full of stories and programs that are designed to illicit an emotional response, bring us into agreement with sin, and conform to a certain way of thinking. People say and do a lot of unhealthy things from a place of compromise and heightened emotional states. We are usually triggered by these emotions because they are connected to a lie from the enemy that we believe. When we feed on the unhealthy diet of the enemy’s lies, our soul responds in a negative way. Can you think of some examples right now of what you read, watch, or listen to that got you all worked up and made you doubt God’s goodness? This is a sign that you should cut that out of your diet.
Guard those gates, and don’t allow the enemy any point of entry. Negative feelings of fear, hurt, anger, bitterness, and sadness, to name a few, can fill our heart and mind when we fill our mind and thoughts with the way the world. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.” Another versions says, “. . . change the way you think.” This can only happen through exercise. The world can get us to conform to a pattern by keeping us thinking the same way. This negative thinking as it goes around and around in our mind makes a path. As a kid, did you ever cut across your yard to a friend’s house by traveling the same path? What probably happened was that you wore a path in the grass, and over time the path deepened. This path in our mind that deepens over time, eventually develops into a trench in which we can’t get out. Only by thinking a new way, God’s way, having the mind of Christ, can we reverse the damaging pattern. It’s like running uphill, or swimming against the current. Quite an exercise for the soul. But the more we fill our mind, hearts, and mouth with God’s truth, the easier it will get as we exercise the receiving of spiritual truth.
A healthy diet of spiritual truth is exactly what our soul needs to be healthy.
As we let the spiritual truth in through our gates, we allow our mind and heart to “work it out”. This exercise strengthens our soul as we meditate (think on it) allowing that truth to go around and around in our mind until it eradicates the lies. Another spiritual work-out routine we can engage in is declaring God’s promises. When we declare what God’s Word says, it builds our faith. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). There is no better place to hear God’s Word, then from your own mouth. Let it flow from your gate! Bible verses have creative power to release health or sickness. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” We can contribute to an unhealthy soul by the things we say. Complaining, griping, gossip, and accusations create a type of sickness within our soul. But declaring the promises of God over our lives and over others helps us reverse this sickness and actually bring health to our soul. Which fruit have you been eating lately?
Another exercise that strengthens our heart by filling it with God’s love and truth is singing to the Lord. Singing transforms our soul into a strong, faith-filled muscle and untwists our heart to let God’s love and grace flow freely through it. In essence, the song from our mouth opens the gate. Just as our body’s muscles develop and release toxins as we exercise, so too can the muscles of our soul grow stronger and release toxic emotions. It is from this healthy state that we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Colossians 3:16). And, from this healthy state, we make decisions that line up with God’s Word, letting Him guide our hands and feet, and whatever we do, we do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Our will can be very strong and stubborn at times. God gave us a free will, and we sure like to exercise it. Sometime the most productive exercise for the soul is the act of submission. In swimming, it is unproductive to swim against the current. You can wear yourself out very quickly. But if you turn around and swim with the current, you go a lot farther, faster. In the same way, when we surrender our will to the will of God, we can flow with Him instead of working against Him. Turning around or repenting and submitting to God will take us farther and help us get to where we’re supposed to be much faster. It will also prevent us from getting off on a tangent of our own making. When we come to a crossroad and need to make a decision, He will be the voice behind saying, “This is the way walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Our own will can lead us in the wrong direction, but if we choose the Ancient Path (Jeremiah 6:16), or God’s will and way, we will not be led astray. We can be free from the consequence of poor choices and experience His peace and blessings when we choose to follow His will and surrender our own.
Our entire temple is healthy when we first have a healthy body, guarding the gate of our mouth and watching what we eat and drink. Second, when we have a healthy soul because we guard the gates of our eyes and ears, we experience full hearts and transformed minds. We make moral decisions from a place of faith and submission, instead of poor decisions brought about from heightened emotions, confused thinking, and a strong will. And last, healthy bodies and souls lead to a healthy spirit. We come unhindered in our heart, mind, and will, giving God our full attention and dwelling in His presence. In His presence is where we can find peace and rest for our weary souls.
Having guarded our gates, we now have them open to the power of the Holy Spirit. The King of Glory can now come into our temple. We can have a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Let your soul become a partaker of the divine nature of the Holy Spirit as He flows freely and unhindered through your gates.
About the Author
Kim Patterson served in her church for over fifteen years, leading various small groups and teaching bible studies. It is her love for the Lord that fuels her desire to see others grow in Christ and walk in freedom and victory. She is the author of, To the Thirsty, Journey into the Depths of God which helps others grow spiritually and relationally with God. Kim is a 2020 graduate from the JFA School of Supernatural Ministry (Bethel Curriculum). Visit her website at www.TotheThirsty.com and watch her video blog, Real Time—Kim Patterson on YouTube.
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