Here we go! As we move on in Chapter 2 — explaining how our hurts, hang-ups and struggles can be directly related to our souls. Praise God! His heart toward us is to restore our hearts and minds! Let’s continue…
Still, we get so messed up.
Our spirit within is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but our soul and body are still up for grabs by the one who still holds the world in his sway until the return of Lord Jesus. (1 John 5:19)
What’s a believer to do? Personally, I was so confused for years that I – a Spirit-filled, charismatic believer – could have such struggle with my habits, behaviors, and reactions.
Why was I so easily hurt and offended by people? Why did I react the way I did when certain situations would arise? Why couldn’t I stop living with an eating disorder? I mean really – why couldn’t I just stop binging and purging? Why was my thought-life filled, non-stop with thoughts I didn’t want and scenarios of fantasy – where I was always the beautiful heroine, by the way – that seemed to be increasing and increasing without abatement? Why...was it so hard to follow Jesus when I loved Him so much? You too?
Well, we are in good company:
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me,
but how to perform what is good I do not find.
For the good that I will to do, I do not do;
but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Romans 7:18-19
Paul, the apostle, had the same struggles we do now. He knew the work of sin and death was still a part of his life. No, not within his Holy Spirit filled spirit, but in the arena of his soul. We think New Testament believers had a leg-up on us but they didn’t. They were hot-messes just like we are now!
What is this complex area of our being where our own selfish desires, habits, and struggles seem to rule along with the deep-seeded places of addiction or reactions that seem to come from the pit of hell itself?
The Bible clearly tells us that our soul is the county-seat of our heart and emotions; what we feel – our joys and sorrows, the effervescence of happiness and the lows of discouragement. Our soul encompasses our heart’s hurts and wounds, desires and longings, and our sense of pride or worthlessness and everything in between.