As he talked about the resurrection, the Apostle Paul mentions the relationship between soul and spirit.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
1 Corinthians 15:44b-46

In the above passage, the word, natural is the word soulish in the Greek.  Right now we have inherited a soulish body from Adam.  That means that our body responds to commands from our soul – which is our mind.  It’s who you are.  The soul includes your personality and all of your memories.

It’s the Greek word, psyche.  It’s where we get our English word psychology, which means the study of the soul.  Your soul is the real you.  That’s why the Scripture refers to people as souls.

When I speak or write, it’s your soul that I want to communicate with.  I don’t just want to stimulate your eyes and ears.  It’s the person on the inside that matters.

Even animals have souls – but they don’t have a spirit.  That’s what sets us apart from them.  Yet without using the spirit, our lives are not much better than animals.

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Psalms 73:21-22

That’s what humanity is like without Christ.  We end up storing up nuts like squirrels.  Or constantly searching to mate, like dogs.

We need to realize that it’s important to keep our soul healthy and prosperous.  Probably even more than the physical.  That’s because what happens in your soul is the foundation for the rest of your life.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (NKJV)
3 John 1:2-3

Soul prosperity and health is the basis for physical prosperity and health.  Of course, there are those who say that this is just a greeting.  They teach that you can’t trust God to perform it in your life based upon this verse.

Wasn’t it the Holy Spirit who inspired John to write this?  If so, then it should be applicable to my life.  What about the Apostle Paul?  When he greets the church by saying “Grace and peace through the Lord Jesus Christ,” does that negate the truth of it?

The truth is that the blessings we experience in our Christian walk are directly tied to how our soul prospers.  The fact is that if you want a good life with health and prosperity, then you need your soul to prosper.

Our problem is that we usually don’t take good care of our souls.  We let things slide and then wonder why our lives get messed up.  We need to spend the time and energy necessary to keep our souls prosperous and healthy.

A few years ago I had a couple of posts about keeping your soul healthy.  To begin that series, click here.

Question: What are the characteristics of a healthy soul?

© 2019 Nick Zaccardi