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Is what I am saying and doing done in love?


I am, as a whole person, spirit, soul, and body. My spirit is forever young; it is eternal and therefore never grows old and weary. My soul as in my mind, will, and emotions, has one “foot” in the eternal as I interact with my spirit, and the other “foot”, in the natural, as I interact with my body and natural world around me. I do see the aging process in my body and soul and I do see the eternal never-grow-old life through my spirit. My body, he knows the passage of time. He lives it out from growth to maturity to the failing of physical abilities.

No wonder my soul is “being saved”, a continuous process. He is caught between two worlds but lives one life. I have learned to nurture my wonderfully complex soul. My mind, will, and emotions are much more content when they are under the nurture of my spirit. To me Luke 9:23-24 is more about denying “self” as in soul and body by daily nurturing them in the outrageous and amazing love of God. Holy Spirit is my daily mentor in this. His love bestows the worth and value of the Godhead or trinity on my life and in turn I experience worth and value in all areas of who I “be”. I then, out of the fullness of worth and value derived from this outrageous love can participate in sharing this with others.

As a person who has come from addiction recovery and the shame that directed my life for years I now find myself defined not by an addictive lifestyle, full of guilt and shame, but by the worth and value ascribed to me through God’s sacrificial love. I am a “being” before I am a “doing”. I will be this type of love and out of that fullness of being the doing is released.  One of the plumb lines in my life now is this;

Is what I am saying and doing done in love? Does it ascribe unsurpassable worth to others? Does it increase in others an ability to ascribe that same love to those they are in relationship with?

I have applied this to my own life as, through God’s mentoring in my life, I have had unsurpassable love ascribed to all areas of who I am. As a spiritual life first I have taken on the task of nurturing my mind and will and emotions. Holy Spirit has mentored me as a spirit life to do this nurturing to the other important and vital parts of who I am. My parts can’t live separate of each other, but they can be defined separately for the purpose of function. My whole personhood benefits for this. A well nurtured soul will recognize eventually that there is no better place to live than at the place where I deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Christ. This is the path of ascribing love and worth.  A well nurtured soul reaps the benefits of unsurpassable love; and is smart enough to eventually participate as a willing partner as more and more areas of the soul are touched by this nurturing.

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