John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had a favorite question that he would employ to others whenever, wherever.  He would asked, “How is it with your soul?” If you never heard that question, it would beg a response.  How is it with your soul?

The first time that question was imposed to me, I was being interviewed for an executive pastor role with a conservative Methodist church in the Midwest.  After answering 15 challenging questions that I felt good with the replies, the pastor asked me, how is it with your soul?

I stammered, made a few audible noises, then shouted “good”.  But deep inside, I was unsure.  I hesitated, and the pastor and search committee recognized my doubt.  It was here that I began to reflect on that one question with the intention that if Jesus Christ stood in front of me, how would I answer.  The result of my study and reflections ended up with me placing a dark blue vanity plate on my car with the question – How is it with Your Soul?

My question to you today is the same – How is it with your soul?  Now when we speak of the soul, we strongly believe like others that the soul encompasses the entire human spectrum of heart, mind, body, spirit, and social relationships.  It involves every area of the human experience, not just the spiritual.  When one’s soul is healthy, it influences your heart, emotions, thinking, decisions, and physical health.  When one’s soul is hurting, it carries into these other areas.  The soul is the governing agency that keeps the person operating within God’s will.  As Christians, our soul is being transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit into a new creation.  It is through the soul that life is fully expressed.

Yet Jesus said that the soul could die.  What good is it to acquire all the world’s material possessions only to lose one’s soul?  Paul also writes that we are a new creation.  What is being transformed? Is it not our souls? As one soul is clothed with Christ’s righteousness, are we not invited into a personal relationship with our Maker?  The Bible calls it being adopted into the family of God.  And as a family member, we have all the privileges of heavenly royalty.

Rather than walking around with a dark soul, swimming with evil, and on death row with no hope, Jesus provides us with a journey that includes a healthy, holy soul that can positively influence the world around us.

How is my soul?  In Christ, we are celebrating life.  In Christ, we are living the spiritual abundant life.  In Christ, God’s fullness of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, faith, and hope is being generated into a model of his image.

Thank you for asking, for in Christ – my soul is living life to the fullest – and it is very good indeed.

But how is it with your soul?

Dr. Mike