Spirit, Soul & Body

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ” – 1Thessalonians 5: 23-24. AMP

This verse indicates that we are a three-part being. We have a spirit, a soul and a body. Each part has a mind of its own.

Think of your spirit as mature, deeply rooted and grounded in Jesus. It will live forever. It was with God in heaven before the foundation of the world. See it as full of wisdom from above, seated in the heavenlies with Jesus. It makes decisions which align with God’s principles, which keep you safe and thriving, walking in the Kingdom in righteousness, peace, and joy. It is empowered by Holy Spirit and blessed with a multitude of gifts.

Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. We make most of our decisions here. The soul can be tossed around by winds of confusion and chaos. It believes it knows everything. See it as a teenager who can be rebellious and stubborn as he sits in the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It often makes decisions based on fear and the latest news. It can be undependable and double-minded, it might even rate as unstable.

Our body is often referred to in Scripture as our flesh. See it as a two-year-old who always wants his way and his timing. It wants to be served and have someone meet all its needs, which are many.

The Word says that the desires of the flesh are opposed to the desires of the Spirit. Those desires keep you from doing the things that you want to do. They may keep you stuck and not moving forward in your Christian walk. Those desires are things like pride, addiction, sorcery, strife, jealousy, anger. Check out Galatians 5 for a list of these treacherous desires.

Below is a picture that Ana Mendez Ferrell drew of the spirit, soul, and body and how they are connected through the heart of a person.

Some believers are not aware that they have a spirit, although there are many scriptures that talk about walking in the spirit, a broken spirit, or our spirit aligning with the Holy Spirit. Often, a spirit is crushed by what has happened through trauma or abuse. It might not even be awake and functioning.

Our goal as believers is to have our life run by our spirit, directly connected to Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, our flesh and soul usually run our daily lives, which means that decisions made will be less than God’s best. Our body (flesh) wars with the spirit daily. For the flesh (the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life) desires that which is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit which is contrary to the flesh (Galatians 5: 16-17).

Through your heart, your spirit interfaces with your soul and your soul interfaces with your body. When your soul partners with your spirit, led by the true Holy Spirit of God, your body follows. This allows the true Holy Spirit to flow through your soul and manifest in your body as the fruits and gifts of the spirit of God. However, if your soul partners with your body (the flesh), it will stop the flow of the true Holy Spirit to your body and will manifest in your body as disease (dis-ease), distress, dysfunction, etc.

When the Holy Spirit convicts you of any sin, repent quickly. Choose to turn away from the works of the flesh and partner with your spirit, which is aligned with the Holy Spirit.

It is possible to speak directly to a person’s spirit and call it to attention. You may well see the person sit up straighter, paying close attention to your words. Look directly in their eyes. Bless the spirit with God’s promises of healing, destiny and purpose, hope and a future. Call forth the gifts God has for the person, as the spirit leads. After we pray, we generally ask the person to submit his flesh to his soul, his soul to his spirit and his spirit to Holy Spirit. We might add a verse such as, “I declare today that I will be obedient, stand firm and watch the enemy flee.” After praying for one man in this way, he shook his head, grinned, and said, “I’m back!” Mission accomplished!

You can simply ask Jesus if your spirit is awake and alert.

Below are verses and resources for going deeper. Take the dive. This is important!