Happy Healthy Holy, pt. 1—The Beautiful Soul

3 John 1:2 NIV
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

3 John 1:2 NET
Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.

Spiritual Formation does not come by , but by .

Question for reflection:
Do I truly believe that God’s will is better than my will? Am I willing to trust his way over my way.

We get God’s when we follow God’s .

Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Bernard of Clairvaux’s Four Degrees of Love—

First: Love of Self for Self’s Sake

Second: Love of God for Self’s Sake

Third: Love of God for God’s Sake

Fourth: Love of Self for God’s Sake

Loving my is a part of loving as God loves .

Soul care is not , it is .

Mark 8:36 NIV
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

You can’t for what you don’t .

1. The

Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

2. The

Romans 12:2 NIV
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

3. The Body

“Habits eat willpower for breakfast.” —John Ortberg

4. Relationships.

Psalm 42:5a NIV
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God!

Job 7:11 NIV
Therefore, I will not keep silent. I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Psalm 16:7 NIV
I will praise the Lord who counsels me. Even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord, with him at my right hand. I will not be shaken; therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure.

The Beautiful Soul—

I need my heart .

I need my mind .

I need my body reTRained

I need my relationships

I need my soul