Finding Balance

Do we recognize that we have multiple aspects to our soul?  Do we care to look at our whole selves and others' whole selves?

The four parts of the soul are our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. 

 We cannot focus on one and neglect the others, or focus on three and neglect the fourth.  If we do so we will function like a table with four legs that had one taken away.  It cannot then stand on three legs.  We as humans cannot function adequately if we do not tend to every part of our souls. 

We think of the physical needs first because we are most conscious of these.  The things we need to simply stay alive are food and water.  Every creature created has physical needs.

But humans have 3 other parts of the soul that animals do not.  We are capable of complex reasoning and thought.  We have a concept of life after death and the inkling that there might be a God.  We are able to cry and feel emotions.  Animals cannot cry. 

How often do we look at these other aspects of ourselves?

How often do we look at these aspects in others?

In marriage it is key to recognize and tend to each aspect of the soul in your spouse.  Marriage and relationships need to be more than just a physical connection.  It is meant to be so much more than that. 

We are meant to connect emotionally, in sharing deep personal thoughts with each other.  Sharing hopes and dreams and plans.  Being vulnerable about our hurts with each other or just with life in general.

We are meant to connect spiritually in praying together and sharing new spiritual insights with each other, in worshipping in church together and fellowship with others in bible studies together.

And we are meant to connect mentally in reading and learning new things together.  One can never stop learning.  There are always, always new things to learn.  "The fool thinks he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."  We have never fully arrived intellectually.  No matter how many books we have read or sermons we have listened to, there is always more knowledge to be gained.

We also have never fully arrived emotionally.  This is the most neglected aspect of the soul by so many people.  Christians seem to maintain every other aspect but the emotional aspect of the soul.  How do we grow emotionally?  A good way that I have learned is in reading Christian psychology books such as by Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend.  Our emotional aspects of the soul are so complex that we ourselves cannot even fully understand ourselves.  We need to constantly be learning about why people do what they do, and why we do what we do.  I love learning more and more about psychology. 

Most people are also greatly malnourished spiritually, even Christian people.  A 5 minute quiet time per day is NOT enough to fulfill our spiritual appetite.  The bible says to "pray without ceasing."  I am constantly in prayer to God.  I know he is always right there, walking beside me in everything I do.  Also, listening to worship music in the car and everywhere you go helps to feed your spiritual aspect of the soul as well.  God seeks to have a relationship with us, but most of us are too busy to even hear his voice anymore.  The noise all around us is to much for Him to be able to speak to us.  And then we wonder why we do not know God's will for our lives, because we never stop to listen.

What does God want to tell you?  When was the last time you sat in silence for even 5 minutes to see what he would say to you?  Try it. :)

May we all grow in each aspect of our souls and not neglect one and become unbalanced.  May we all become more and more balanced every day.  May we draw closer to God and each other.  And may we continue to grow in our knowledge of the world as well.

May God bless you! :)