People are made up of three parts: Body, soul, and spirit. I've been receiving some excellent teaching lately on the soul. The soul can be defined as the mind, will, and emotions.

At salvation we submit our spirits to God and they remain His, forever sanctified. But our soul remains a loose cannon. Think about it. You're saved, but your mind continues to think things it shouldn't. You display emotions you shouldn't, and of your own free will you make wrong decisions. Obviously the Holy Spirit still has some sanctifying work to do in your soul.

This is a battle that must be fought daily. My spirit belongs to the Holy Spirit, will I bring my soul under that same subjection? Will I subject my emotions to the control of the Holy Spirit? Will I subject my will and my mind's workings to Him?

My body will act according to the decisions made in my emotions, will, and mind. Whose driving that soul that drives my body, the Holy Spirit, or me? Take eating. What, when, and how much we eat must be decided by someone. Will it be me, acting in the best fleshly wisdom I'm capable of, or perhaps acting on emotion? Or will I subject my eating decisions to the Holy Spirit? Do I even consult him in this area? My body will bear the consequences. What about my TV watching, or my choice of friends, or my church giving? Who's the driver?

The good news is that as we daily submit our minds, wills, and emotions to the Holy Spirit they become more and more conformed to Him. The battles become less, and the decisions are right more often...as long as we don't fight the Lord. How many Christians are fighting what the Lord's trying to do in our souls? It's a control issue. As we yield control of that area the Lord will point out a new one, and the battle starts anew. The devil will also probe in old areas to see if we'll go back. Jesus wants us to move from victory to victory.

Folks, the Christian life is possible. The only difference between us and the giants of the faith is the amount of their flesh that was yielded to the Spirit. They won the battles of the soul and progressed farther than most. As a result their prayers were always on target, with the right motive, and always answered. Their ministries had huge impact because they were performed correctly. They operated in Spiritual gifts, and spoke correct words, why? They'd removed themselves from the process. The actions their bodies took were driven by victorious souls, which were in turn Spirit-driven.

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2002