THE CORRELATION BETWEEN BODY HEALTH AND SOUL HEALTH

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. (‭3 John‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ESV)

As I was entering into ministry as a young man - this scripture began to resonate with my spirit about the correlation of body and soul.  Actually, there is a tri-part nature of man - that we would be one in our body, soul and spirit.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭23‬ ESV)

As a baseball player and a golfer I understand the importance of finding the "sweet spot" in terms of a baseball bat or on the golf clubs.  If a person can hit the ball in those places - it's the greatest feeling ever.

It is the same with the Christian - if we can get our body, and soul and spirit to "sync" up and fire on all cylinders - amazing things can happen.  

3 John 1:2 states that when our soul is in good shape - it affects our bodies.

Let's look at these three parts and get some understanding.

1.  Spirit – Gr.  – Pneuma – wind.  This is the dimension of man which deals with the spiritual realm.  The part of man that know God. It is the area that deals with faith, hope, reverence, prayer, and worship.

2.  Soul – Gr. Psuche – the dimension of man which deals with the mental realm.  It is man’s intellect, sensibilities and will.  This is the part that reasons and thinks.  This area is like the traffic policeman directing our lives toward God or to the flesh.  We make our major decisions right here.

3.  Body – Gr. Soma – The dimension of man that deals with the physical realm.  This is the house in which we live.  It houses are fives senses - touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.

The Spirit deals with the spirit, and the body deals with the physical.  This leaves the soul, the mental part of man, as the warring ground.

I believe that a lot of sicknesses that we incur in our lives today is because these three parts are not in one accord.

We need to start thinking of ourselves in a new light.  Don’t think of yourself just as a physical being.  Think of yourself as a spirit being who possess a soul and lives in a body.

Man works this way – body – soul and spirit but God works this way – spirit, soul and body.We are just spirit beings that live in earth suits.

The real “me” (the spirit part of me) is growing younger and younger every day and is renewed daily.  My body might be growing older but my spirit is growing younger.

We must develop our inner man (spirit) on a daily basis.  Man spends much money developing the body and the soul but spends very little time developing the spirit.

Man’s spirit has five senses just as the body does.  These all need to be filled with God’s spirit.  They are defined as:

1- The inner man – which hears the voice of God
2- The inner eye – which sees God’s vision
3- The inner mind – which ponders the voice and vision of God
4- The inner will – which decides to speak forth the vision and voice of God
5- The inner emotions – which constitute the deep underlying emotions of our lives and provide the volition for action.

HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR SPIRIT NATURE

1.  Meditate on God’s Word

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "

2.  Practice the Word of God

James 1:22 (NKJV) But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

3.  Give first-place to the Word of God

Jeremiah 1:12 (NKJV) Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word."

4- Obey the voice of your spirit

God is constantly speaking to our spirit.  We need to obey the voice of our spirit and it will save you much heartbreak.

Romans 8:14 (NLT) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Smith Wiggleworth – “I’m 10,000 times bigger on the inside than I am on the outside.”

As we look back on your lives - we must be able to say that we are stronger in our spirit that we were before.  We should constantly be growing our spirits.  Our body might be getting weaker but our spirit should be getting stronger and stronger.