What is the soul of a person and how can you define it?
Many of us think the soul is a combination of mind, will and emotions.
Yes, this is right according to Quora, the network of sharing knowledge and gaining insights into the world. The soul is also mentioned as the combination of the mind, which does the activity of thinking, and the heart, which does the activity of feeling.
Due to the Greek and the Oxford Dictionary primarily defining the word ‘soul’ as ‘spirit,’ I researched the word ‘soul’ a little bit further. Then, I found that human beings are souls but also has spirits.
The spirit is an element of humanity that gives us an ability to have an intimate relationship with God. Whenever the word ‘spirit’ is used, it refers to the immaterial part of humanity that connects with God, who Himself is the Spirit…
The word ‘soul’ can refer to the whole person whether alive on the earth or in the afterlife (What is the difference between the soul and the spirit of man?, GotQuestions.org)
God, the Soulmate
The word, ‘soulmate’ comes from the meaning of the soul, instead of being just another word for a romantic partner. It is someone who comprehends the person’s thoughts and feelings right away and who loves to journey with the person forever.
A soulmate is someone that just gets you. It's a connection of minds, a mutual respect, an unconditional love and a total understanding. It's about being yourself and knowing, not only that person is following and understanding your thoughts, but is right there with you, side by side. (soulmate definition, Google)
But do you know what?
God wants to be our soulmates as well. In fact, He has known each of us so intimately that He knows everything about us, even before we are born and came to the world (Psalm chapter 139, verses 13-18).
God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. This means that He is everywhere at the same time with unlimited knowledge, knowing our thoughts and feelings, while also being capable of doing anything.
God was there at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. He even heard His cry that He doesn’t want to be crucified. But Jesus chose to obey His father’s will and be crucified and resurrected back again three days later. Why?
People, who God has created, had been separated from God and there had been no way to restore relationship with God due to the sin of one man that brought death to many from a spiritual perspective.
So, Jesus Christ had to come down to the earth as the One, who was fully God and fully human, and to be crucified Himself on the cross and resurrect back again three days after. This was to take the spiritual death of many and to restore people spiritually.
But why all of this? Surely, God could ignore all human beings and let them choose their destinations—either of being in a relationship with God or of being in a complete separation from God.
The answer to all of these questions comes down to this:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John chapter 3, verses 16-17)
Since Jesus’ crucifixion took our spiritual death away and resurrection has made our souls eternally alive, how could we not love God with our souls and forsake Him until the last minute of physical death or never?
Application
In Mark chapter 8, verses 34-38, we read if we lose our lives for the good news of Christ, we will eventually save our lives. Does it also imply that gaining the whole world means forfeiting our souls? What’s up with these?!
In the simplest term, those Bible verses are talking about loving God with our souls to the point that we want to serve Jesus Christ all day long, instead of craving our natural desires and serving one’s self.
Although losing our lives for Christ may be hard, let us try to serve Him all day long as much as we can with the power of the good news of Him. If we love Jesus with our souls, then it basically means loving God with our souls as Jesus is the exact representation of God!
While we are serving Jesus, let’s remember that this is a long journey with lots of mercy and grace from God! “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations chapter 3, verses 22-23)
Let God be your soulmate!
Kevin Park is studying at Carey Baptist College and finds that Christian-writing is his ultimate will of God and his ultimate method to build the kingdom of God. He started to become a Christian writer from 2013. Other than his writing life, Kevin desires to see that each finds everlasting satisfaction in God, the Almighty. You will be able to contact him at [email protected]. He loves to encourage others spiritually.
Kevin Park’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/kevin-park.html