Self-care is promoted in books, blogs & magazines. We’re beginning to grasp that it’s not selfish to care for ourselves. It’s necessary unless we want to collapse & burnout. It’s essential to look after yourself- you can’t pour from an empty cup. Right?
But have you considered the importance of soul-care?
‘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)
A healthy body & a healthy soul sounds like a utopian ideal. Yet often we focus on looking after our physical bodies & ignore our souls
‘It is not reasonable to think the soul would be properly cared for when it isn’t even seriously acknowledged.’
(Dallas Willard – Renovation of the Heart)
Our souls can seem abstract at times but I think these definitions help:
‘Your soul is what integrates, what connects, what binds together your will, then your mind (those thoughts, feelings, and desires going on all the time), and then your body (with all of its appetites, habits, and behavior)’
(John Ortberg)
‘Our soul is like a stream of water, which gives strength, direction, and harmony to every other area of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do, because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and His Kingdom, including nature, and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream.’
(Dallas Willard – Renovation of the Heart)
So,’How’s your soul?’
(Robert Cup)
‘We will always take the most care of that which we value most deeply.’
(John Ortberg-Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You)
Our soul gets crushed under noise, busyness & distraction.
‘When a woman lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule she’ll ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.’
(Lysa TerKeurst)
Caring for our souls needs time out.
In our frenetic, tech-packed world
‘Stillness is to my soul as decluttering is to my home’
(Emily P Freeman)
We can’t tend to our souls ourselves- we need to entrust them to the One who made us.The One who scattered the stars created our souls. He is able to nurture our souls:
‘In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.’
(James 1:21 MSG)
Jesus said,”I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5 ESV)
‘The soul responds to space, silence, and Jesus.’
(Emily P Freeman)
Jesus said,”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
‘Abide in my love’
(John 15:9)
Remain in God’s love ‘Being present, being beloved, being still.’
(Ann Voskamp)
We can build ourselves up in our faith by connecting with God through prayer:
‘But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!’
(Jude 1:20-21 MSG)
We need to keep on praying:
‘I pray because I can’t help myself.I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me, all the time, waking or sleeping. It doesn’t change God- it changes me’
(CS Lewis)
Caring for our souls means soaking in God’s Word. For our soul needs truth like our body needs oxygen.
‘Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness’
(Getty)
Our souls can feel burdened by the trials & troubles of life.
‘Sometimes when you are in a dark place, you think you have been buried, but you have actually been planted’
(Christine Caine)
Sometimes dark places in our lives create space for our souls to grow.
‘Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation, & my God’
(Psalms 42:5 ESV)
‘For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.’
(Psalms 62:5 ESV)
‘He restores my soul’
(Psalm 23:3)
Restore means to return to original good position, repair & renovate. God can revive our weary souls as we turn to Him.
‘Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.’
(Psalm 62:5 NIV)
We can look back & reflect how God has restored our souls in the past.
‘I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.’
(Psalms 143:5 ESV)
‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain’
(Hebrews 6:19 NIV)
Hope in God gives our soul security & brings us into His presence.
No matter how stormy life gets, we can know, ‘It is well with my soul’
So let us draw near to God & nourish our souls
‘So let us know and become personally acquainted with Him; let us press on to know and understand fully the [greatness of the] LORD [to honor, heed, and deeply cherish Him]. His appearing is prepared and is as certain as the dawn, And He will come to us [in salvation] like the [heavy] rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.’
(HOSEA 6:3 AMP)
May our soul’s Creator, Redeemer & Restorer nourish our life with His gentle rain, as we trust in Him.
Blessings,
Ruthx
PS You might also like
Blessed! 
1 thought on “Soul-care”