Body & Soul: Your heart determines what you think & what you do
Body, Soul, & spirit.
As much as we might consider ourselves logical beings who make sound decisions, we are souls with a body. We make soul-based decisions and feel soul-based emotions. What we believe determines what we think. What we think determines what we feel. What we feel determines what we do.
Practically, let’s see how this psychological domino game shapes our lives.
If you’re spiraling in a downward trajectory that nobody loves you, nobody sees you, nothing you do matters–that’s actually a soul problem. At your center (the Bible calls it your heart), you disbelieve the importance God places on you as a soul–not you as a producer or performer.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.–Proverbs 4:23
If you’re circling through your usual destructive patterns of addiction, co-dependency, arguments, arrogance, or laziness–that’s a heart problem; it’s not a behavior problem because something is prompting behavior which you logically know creates problems for you and doesn’t make you happy.
Every time we engage in self-destruction, the problem originates from the center of who we are, we’ve decided that our actions don’t matter or that we’re always right. We replace God’s authority with our own. We construct an idol that demands our attention.
Tracing your behavior, emotions, and thoughts back to the source means you consider everything you do, feel, and say and find out why you do, feel, and think it.
What are your core values? Honestly.
What does your soul accepts as true? Click below to download a handout that will help you process your behavior, emotions, and thoughts.
TRACING BEHAVIOR BACK TO BELIEF
Our prayer life & our spiritual journey reveal what we believe about God and his relationship to ourselves. They show us that we believe lies. That we are deceived.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?–Jeremiah 17:9
We have to consider the lies we are telling ourselves that cause our spirals, steal our hope, and create identities we believe about ourselves that aren’t even true.
Truth: You are loved. You belong. You were created for purpose, with purpose. Nothing about you is a mistake. You are pre-determined to experience resilience, restoration, and redemption.
Click below for some help unmasking the lies in your spirit that you believe about yourself.
When we’re talking about self-care, we’re talking about soul care. God has uniquely crafted us a spiritual beings, which entwines the elements of body, soul, and spirit together. Here are some simple but profound adjustments to improve your self-care in each area:
BODY:
- get outside every day, even if it’s not sunny
- exercise: find something you’ll do (maybe with a friend), like walking, pickleball, yoga, dance
- eat healthy & reward yourself at pre-determined times (otherwise, every sad moment “deserves” a cookie–not good for you)
- set sleep & wake times to lock in rhythms and help your body maximize your time in bed
SOUL:
- keep your daily spiritual disciplines of prayer & Scripture (coasting is deadly to our soul)
- find a few spiritual friends/mentors & listen to them
- don’t skip church; the corporate experience is critical for you and everyone there
- pray; ask God the hard questions; praise, confess, & lament before you make requests
SPIRIT:
- manage your time with people & by yourself–you need both, but you require a unique balance to maintain peace
- develop a love for listening to God and sitting with yourself
- find a professional counselor; you can’t peel the layers of your soul & spirit without professional help (friends can’t do this for you)
- when you feel yourself spiraling mentally, careening emotionally, or behaving badly, retreat to your designated safe space; give yourself care for your body, soul, and spirit; repent and rebuild if you’ve made a mess
C.S. Lewis supposedly said, “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” I’m not sure who said it, but I like it. I’m a soul, which means I was created and designed to live a richer, fuller, more impactful life than what the world offers me.
I am a soul. My soul longs for God. He longs for me.
What a perfect way to live!
