THE BATTLE AGAINST SOULISHNESS

Man is composed of three parts – body, soul, and spirit (Caram 75). The body is the tangible part of man while the soul and the spirit are the intangible parts. But even though the latter two are intangible, the soul and the spirit are actually very different.

The spirit is our very life and heart. 

It is the part of us which God breathed into when He first created man. It is the part of us which is able to truly worship God and communicate with Him.

In contrast, the soul is the seat of our emotions, moods, personality, imaginations, and biases. Being “soulish” means being controlled by our emotions. It is being easily swayed by emotional highs and lows. This is why “soulishness” can lead to feelings of depression, discouragement, and self-pity (Caram 77).

Oftentimes, it is the soul and the body ruling over our spirits. But this is not how it is supposed to be. What God meant for us is that His Holy Spirit would rule over our spirits, which would then control our soul and body (Caram 76).

Why shouldn’t we be soulish?

The reason why we don’t want to be soulish is that our soul often gets in the way of the Spirit, hindering its flow (Caram 77). Being controlled by our soul rather than being controlled by the Holy Spirit can lead us to make wrong decisions that will deflect us off the path towards God’s perfect destiny for us.

In the Bible, God had to correct the prophet Samuel for being soulish when he mourned for King Saul’s disobedience to God:

Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons. (1 Samuel 16:1)

This shows us how we can grieve over situations that don’t really grieve God – wasting our time, effort, energy, and tears!

Another person in the Bible who had to battle with soulishness was Jacob. For many years, Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead so he lived a life of depression and misery. His grief was so painful that he proclaimed that he will die if his youngest son, Benjamin, will die too (Genesis 44:27-29).

These lessons show us how soulishness can distort reality and the perfect will of God in our lives. Thus, it is so important to win this battle in our souls.

How do we overcome soulishness?

Allow the Lord to reveal the truth by His Word. There is a huge difference between the way we feel and the way things truly are. To help us discern the truth, the Word of God gives us the light so that we know if we are being spiritual or being soulish. Hebrews 4:12 says:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

It is written here that the Word of God divides the soul from spirit. 

By reading the Word of God, we learn to discern whether we are really hearing from God or we’re just hearing our own voice.

By understanding His Word more, God is able to reveal the real root cause of the issues we may be facing. It's like having a light switch being turned on inside of us (Caram 77). This is what is meant in Psalm 119:130 where it says "The entrance of thy Word giveth light."

Trust in the Lord, not in feelings. 

We are called to trust in the Lord and not in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) for “he who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:6). Martin Luther explains it well when he said:

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God -
Naught else is worth believing.”

Test anointings and sensations. 

Satan has anointings. Sometimes what we term as "inward witness of the Spirit" is actually a different spirit. And so, we need to be very careful to test our emotions and ask ourselves: “is this what God really is saying to me?” “Is this consistent with what God is saying in His Word?”

May it be our sincere prayer that God would give us the power to overcome our souls. And may He make our hearts humble enough to allow His Holy Spirit to reign in us in every moment of every day.

So that one day would come that we would be found to be truly spiritual, not soulish, men and women of God.

“Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”
- Martin Luther


Sources:
Caram, Paul G. Foundations of the Faith: Doctrine I - II. Zion Christian Publications, 2004, pp. 75-76. eBook.
Caram, Paul G. Victory Over the Self-Centered Life. Zion Christian Publishers, 1998, p. 42. eBook.
Tuper, Derrick. “Feelings.” Sermon Central. sermoncentral.com/sermons/feelings-derrick-tuper-sermon-on-emotions-141206?page=. Accessed July 2017.
Luther, Martin. Goodreads. goodreads.com/quotes/97672-feelings-come-and-feelings-go-and-feelings-are-deceiving-my