Chapter 2. Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength

There are many theories today about the soul. How do we discern the truth? Jesus said, "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." John 17:17. We will therefore look into the Scriptures to find out the true meaning of the soul.

In the beginning, the "...LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7. From the previous post, we learned that this Bible verse means that man is made up of three components: body, soul, and spirit.

In fact, Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians stated that when God saves, sanctifies and preserves a person wholly, he does it to three things: the body, soul, and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. We learned that the body, made from dust was designed as the house of the soul and the spirit, God's temple here on Earth. What does the Bible say about the soul?

The central commandment of God's kingdom is love, and love is generated and radiated from within the soul by man's God-given power of free choice. Through the law of free choice, the soul of man may choose whatever he wishes to love. God in His great power has provided everything He could to woo us so that our love is rendered first to Him, and then to our fellow creatures.

In His conversation with a Jewish scribe, Jesus was asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Matthew 22:36

Jesus replied, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these...On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Mark 12:29-31; Matthew 22:40.

Hearing the answer of our Lord, the scribe replied, "Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:32-33.

Love to God must be done through the Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. Does the Bible tell us what these four things are? Yes indeed!

1. Heart: In the Old Testament, the word heart was mostly taken from the Hebrew word leb or labe. This simply means centre or core. The heart is the core of the human being. King Solomon said that "...out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23. God designed the heart as the centre of your life. Out of it flows out everything about you, just like the blood of the physical heart. In the New Testament, the word kardia is used, which means the same thing: centre.
   
   
2. Soul: The soul in the Old Testament refers to the being itself, in this case, it's the living human being. The soul is the man himself, the person, the individual. It is the seat of emotions, passions, and appetites. It is where the activities of the mind, will, and character takes place. It is you! In the New Testament, the word psuche is used for soul. It refers to the vital force or breath which moves the man. Like the physical heart pumping life-giving blood, the heart pumps out the life force of the soul.
   
   
3. Mind: The Greek word dianoia used by Mark for mind refers to how a man's soul conducts itself. Mind is the way you think and feel. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word ruwach is used, which refers to wind, breath, mind and spirit. Simply put, the mind is how the soul works.
   
   
4. Strength: In Greek, the word used in the New Testament is ischus, which means ability, force, strength, might. Strength is characterized by the soul's ability to choose and do something. It is the will of a man.

Like the physical heart, the heart of man is the instrument that houses and issues out the consciousness, thoughts, emotions, appetites, and passions of a human being. God's gift of free will allows mankind to choose for themselves. Using their ability, force, strength, and might, mankind would shape the soul however they wished.

The human being was made to love God and fellow creatures. It was God's purpose that we develop and manifest His principle of love. It is by practising this principle that we experience true happiness and freedom.

Humans are created beings, designed and built by the Great Engineer. If the infrastructures, machines, and inventions of this world were made by careful design and laws, then we, as created beings, were made by a much more wonderful design, governed by carefully thought-out laws. Said the Psalmist, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalms 139:14.

God has two fundamental laws for our heart, soul, mind, and strength, Love God and Love Thy Neighbor. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:40. What did Jesus mean by that? You see, during their time, the Scriptures weren't called The Bible, they called it "The Law & The Prophets".

In addition to the royal law, God made the final ingredient for man's soul, the freedom of choice. Without it, love cannot work, for mankind must choose out of a voluntary will to love. Choice is the key ingredient to Love. We are not robots.

I hope you now understand that the whole Bible is trying to teach us how to Love God and our Neighbor. In the next blog post, I will talk about the truth about this principle God calls Love, and how God broke it down in the Bible for us to understand.