It is obvious that our culture teaches us to nurture habits of self-care. Taking an immense amount of time to invest in your desires, goals, wants, needs, luxuries, and all of that should be a constant priority. While I am an advocate for chasing your dreams and living the life you desire in God's will, I am also aware of the lack of priorities. I am sure this is no news to you, for we have been in a capitalist state of mind since the beginning of time. But for a moment of your time, I would like to bring some attention to a different type of self-care, if not the most important.
Soul care.
When I think of soul, I think of smooth neo-soul music playing in the background while sitting with genuine people. I hear heavy conversations infused with heavier laughs, and a freedom to speak truth. I think of words being spoken that reflect exactly what you feel in that moment, giving it the language you’ve had such a hard time to find. But as we grow, we learn soul care is a much deeper metamorphosis. It is not something we can achieve on our own or by others, it needs a divine intervention.
Throughout this life, we experience so many different interactions with people and their history in addition to ours that leave an impact. Whether it be psychological, heart wounds, or both, each are impacted in a way that scars the soul. We carry offenses, shame, memories, spirits, and many more things; and when we become intertwined from a heart level, it creates a soul tie. This mandates soul care as vital.
We are born with a fragile soul by being born into sin and a world subject to pain. It can seem as though the older you get, the more fragile it becomes. I challenge you today to think about how you have purified and cultivated a healthy space for your soul to prosper? Have you taken the time to recognize the needs of your soul versus the outside of your temple? We often sanitize, cleanse, upgrade or renovate our physical homes, all to forget to care for the most infected place within our being.
How do I clear my soul ?
Many people attempt to do this with a variety of methods and power sources. Many methods include food cleanses and purging their surroundings by becoming one with self in order to discover what’s causing infection. Some practice rituals and call on ancestral intervention to receive power. We take our minds and bodies to extremes to find the perfect cleansing method to our soul, all while to repeat again and never really get the freedom we need. And the reason why is because of one thing.
It takes divine assessment and intervention with the Holy Spirit
As a therapist, we are taught to assess the situation before we come in and implement interventions to problem solve. As a young therapist, I would make the mistake many times to jump to solutions without properly scoping the situation. This caused me to miss key points to help the client, which can cause more trauma and go backwards. As so with us, we need to take assessment before we can incorporate changes; the catch is to partner with the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to search your heart and reveal things to you to process and even repent for. That is the only true power source to do this.
26 In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of [c]God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
You must understand that some things in your soul will not heal totally without giving the Holy Spirit full control to guide, purify, and help maintain your soul. Every area of your life is affected by this one area and causes distorted responses and thinking. We don’t always know what’s in our hearts because we can be so blindsided by our flesh. David knew in Psalm 23 who could restore what he had lost and the pain he felt through the many things in his life. He knew divine intervention needed to happen so that his soul would have a chance of redemption. For it is because we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:10).
So, I implore you today, invest and deposit into your soul more than anything with the help of the Advocate. Galatians 6 tell us : 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Stop buying into culture’s methods of burning sage and keeping crystals to help with your soul care. Cease from ignoring the screams of your soul because you are too busy or uncomfortable to face what’s inside. I don’t care if you’ve been a Christian for 2 or 20 years, there is significant soul care that needs to take place. If the Holy Spirit has not been given full permission to dwell in those spaces, true deliverance will not happen. Give the Holy Spirit permission to do the work He has promised to do and watch how much “self-care” really wasn’t important at all. Do not neglect taking care of yourself and building healthy habits of self-care, this will aid the soul care process with God. Prioritize what’s eternal and you will get a good return on your deposit.
If you do not know Jesus or have accepted him as Lord of your life, the ultimate step to soul care is to secure it in Jesus. We are in the end times and your soul matters to him most that is lost. However, it is your choice of who will be the Shepherd of your soul: The Father of lights or the father of lies? Ask him into your heart so that your eternity is secured in him and have access to be transformed by the only power source.
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