Jesus has informed us in Matthew 22:36-40 that loving him with all our heart, soul and mind was the greatest commandment, and the second is like it.You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. In 1 Peter 4:8, and James 5:20 tells us that "Love" covers a multitude of sin. What does all this mean? Jesus is speaking from a spiritual framework and is telling us that by manifesting the act of love those things laid out in the Law would be satisfied. If we show love we would not steal, kill, cheat, fornicate, covet, lie,be adulterous, would care for the poor, the sick, and the old. Our love would show the characteristics taught by the "Beatitudes. The love that Jesus demands is Agape Love!
Jesus tells us that we have to embrace our love for him with our heart, soul, and mind. How do we do this? If we view the heart as our will, the soul our affection, and the mind as the center of our understanding. This means that we are to love him with our total being. To better understand this, visualize three circles that overlap each other. The outer circle is mind, the middle circle is the soul and the inner circle is the heart. We see in the New Covenant Jesus speaks of circumcision of the heart is what is needed to convert us. In Hebrew 4:12 we read, "The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two edge sword piercing even the division of soul and spirit ,and the joints and marrow an is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Was this the first heart surgery in history? It was necessary for the surgery because 1 Peter 2:11 warns us that fleshly lust wars against the soul. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ,"I pray your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In the scriptures we notice that often the Lord uses a description we know as "tripartite" (3) or "Trinity". My using this term should not be considered theological heresy on my part. The term "Trinity" was not mentioned in the scriptures, but first use by the African Theologian Tertullian in 200 AD. In 1 Thessalonian we read that man in comprised of a spirit, a soul, and enclosed by a physical body. Again we can use three circles to describe man with the "spirit", being the center circle.
In recent history the ministering, to the three parts of the human, has been divided among physicians, clergy, and psychologist. Jesus made man to be a holistic being,and provided provision in His word for their care and nurturing. The modern church is given the responsibility to minster to the whole man/woman, even if they feel uncomfortable, or unprepared to do so.
In an article by, Leman Strauss, he describes the Spirit as the receptor of outward and material things thorough the soul. The Spirit facilitates faith, hope,reverence, payer and worship. Romans 8:16 says,"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God. He says the soul is susceptible to fleshly lust, desires, and other appetite arise
Thomas Moore in,"Care of the Soul", reminds us that caring for our soul is much different than other ways we do self care. We can not care for our souls by intellect, logic, research, equations, pros and cons. But the soul practice is different and defies logic, and reasoning and other secular paradigms. The soul requires faith that defies all human understanding. The soul can only be feed through the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer, meditation, reading of scriptures, and hearing of the word. Attempting to care for the soul by any other method will be disastrous and unfruitful.
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