A CUP OF COLD WATER

 ‘AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS’- SOUL PROSPERITY

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

This verse comes from a letter to a follower of Jesus Christ, from Apostle John. In it, he acknowledges the prosperity of his soul and prays that it will result in his general prosperity and health. What did he mean by ‘soul prosperity’?

In the Book of Genesis, chapter 2 and verse 7, we read: ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Here we see that man was made from the dust of the ground, which is our body, after which God gave us life by breathing His life into us, which is our spirit. By breathing His life into us, God gave us an inner being that would live eternally, just as He does. It is this ability to live eternally that Adam lost in the Garden of Eden when he sinned by disobeying God and, through him, all humanity sinned because we are all descended from him. This is why God sent Jesus Christ to pay for this sin of humanity and to reconcile us back to Himself.

Our body is our flesh that is visible, whilst our soul and spirit are invisible. Our soul is the seat of our personality, intellect, will, mind and emotions and our spirit is that part of us that connects, or refuses to connect, to God. In the Holy Bible, our soul is also referred to as our heart or our mind. Whereas our bodies die, our spirit and soul lives on after we die. 

For us to prosper in all things and be in health, our body, spirit and soul must be healthy. We maintain a healthy body by good diet, exercise, rest, good sleep, and we maintain a healthy spirit by having a healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ alone, and by staying connected to God, but how do we maintain a healthy soul? Soul health leads to soul prosperity and it is the link to our general prosperity and health, as we have read in the verse. Let’s now explore ways in which we can have soul health and prosperity.

First, we need to recognise that our soul can be governed by our body or our spirit. Our body often desires us to do or crave things that are not beneficial to us, whilst our spirit, if it has been re-birthed by believing in Jesus Christ as Saviour, will always lead us in paths that are beneficial to our prosperity. The extent to which we allow our spirit to govern our mind is the extent to which we will experience soul health, because the mind governed by the spirit tends to prosperity, whilst the mind governed by the body tends to poverty. Poverty, in this sense means lack; a lack of wisdom to live our lives skillfully, a lack of understanding of the times and what we ought to be doing at any given time and a lack of the knowledge of God which leaves us unprotected from evil schemes. Hence we subject our body by not giving in to its cravings and desires to do what our mind knows is not beneficial to us.

You may ask, but what if my mind does not know what is beneficial to me, how can I subject my body? This brings me to my second point, which is that we are to renew our minds daily with God’s word, the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is inspired by God and given to us to teach us the truth, so that we can know right from wrong and gain wisdom for our daily living. Hence the Holy Bible instructs us not to live our lives in accordance to the dictates of the world but to re-shape our minds with God’s word so that we are able to see things from His perspective, rather than from the world’s perspective. As we re-shape our minds, we are able to know what is beneficial and what is harmful. Once our mind knows what is beneficial to us, God gives us power to overcome the temptation to do the contrary and we are able to subject our body. Re-shaping our mind with the word of God should be a continuous process over our lifetime. Determination, patience and effort are required on our part as we diligently read and commit to memory the verses in the Holy Bible, being ready to apply them as the occasion serves. The result is that our mind will be governed by our spirit, rather than our body, and we will enjoy soul health and prosperity.

A re-shaped mind thinks on things that are of eternal value and not only on earthly things, which is my third point. When our mind is attuned with God’s word our thought pattern will change. We will begin to think true, honest, just, pure, lovely, virtuous and praise worthy thoughts (Philippians 4:8). We will pay attention to how we live our lives, so that we do not get ensnared again by the world’s systems. We will have the ability to recognise and prioritise things of eternal importance, such as, visiting orphans and widows, sharing what we have with the poor, out-cast, hungry, naked and people in need or danger, and make them a part of our lifestyle. We will engage ourselves in advancing the kingdom of God on earth, and be willing to tell people the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. We will keep ourselves from being entangled with the world's systems.

My fourth point on how to gain soul health is to guard our minds. After re-shaping our minds with God’s word, we must guard our minds because all that we imagine, say and do come from our thoughts, experiences and perspectives on issues. The word of God that we know and have understood can be compared to an air filter when we have to apply it. It will let through us all that is good and worthy of a follower of Jesus and eliminate all that is inappropriate and offensive. We can then operate with wisdom and discernment in all we do and keep our soul healthy and prosperous.

My fifth and final point on how to get soul health is having healthy relationships. We all know that relationships can be challenging, with some being more so than others. Situations can arise that lead to unforgiveness in our relationships, and if we hold on to the offense, we go down the path of soul poverty.  Our relationships should be devoid of unforgiveness, at all cost, if we are to enjoy soul health. We must forgive those who offend us without reservation or hesitation, knowing that we ourselves have been forgiven so great an offense by God. 

God’s desire for us is total prosperity; spirit, body and soul. Soul prosperity is the link to our general prosperity and health, and soul health is the precursor of soul prosperity. When our soul is governed by our spirit and our mind is renewed daily with God’s word, our thoughts will be re-shaped. Then we are able to guard our minds and maintain healthy relationships, and when this becomes our way of life, we can say that our soul is prosperous.