The Real You

1. You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body!

The statement above is a very true and important one because it helps us understand who we really are. The proof of this statement is evident when a person dies. The same body which interacted with others becomes inactive because the spirit is out of it.

Your spirit is the real you

The real you is your spirit, and as such, you’re spiritual in nature. The spirit of man is so powerful. These are some characteristics of your spirit:

• It can relate to God – this happens especially when you pray. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says when we speak in tongues, we speak not unto men, but unto God. The 14th verse lets us know that when we speak in tongues, our spirit prays. This is awesome! So when we pray in tongues, not even the devil can understand what your spirit is saying to God. You will however not have this experience if you are not born again.
• Intuition – this is an instinctive knowing or impression about something. Your spirit can help you know something that is not evident to the physical senses. It has its own senses. In actual fact, if you are born again, your spirit man knows all things because it is one with the Spirit of God.
  Conscience – this is how you know what is good or bad. Every human being knows when they have done something right or wrong, and the spirit helps us to know that.
• Communication – Language stems from the spirit. The spirit makes it possible to communicate with both verbal and non-verbal languages. Even babies who don’t know our languages are still able to communicate in their own way.
• The spirit is the storehouse for meaning, purpose and love.
• The spirit makes God- consciousness possible. John 4:24 says God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth. So we are able to know and appreciate God because of our spirits. Matthew 13:19
• It continues after death to either heaven or hell. Your spirit either faces eternal glory or eternal damnation, depending on whether you believed in and accepted the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus for you.
• It contains God’s Spirit when you become born again. 1 Corinthians 6:17 AMP But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. This means that your spirit is 100% perfect, just like God’s Spirit.
• It’s the candle of the Lord. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Proverbs 20:27 KJV / “The spirit (conscience) of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching and examining all the innermost parts of his being.” — Prov 20:27(Amp). Your Spirit knows everything. (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

Now let’s talk about the soul.

The soul is psychological in nature. When your body came into contact with your spirit, your soul was produced. Your soul and your spirit make up your heart. Not the physical heart but your spiritual heart. And this is where the word of God is planted and grows (Matthew 13:3). Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 KJV. These are some qualities of the soul:

• It relates to other people – this is the storehouse for all our relationships. It’s in the soul that we keep information about the people and the things we know.
• It contains the mind, the will and our emotions. How we reason, what we feel, how we interpret things and the decisions we make are all done with the soul. This is an aspect of the heart, which is the storehouse of one’s personality (Attitude, beliefs, reasonings, and feelings.)
• Self-consciousness – With the soul, we keep information about ourselves, what we think about ourselves, what we think about others and even what we want to become.
• It continues after death to either heaven or hell. Your soul is also connected to your spirit so, after death, you will still be able to remember everything you did on earth.

… And now the body

The body is physiological in nature. The characteristics of the body are:

• It’s a containing vessel for the spirit and the soul. Your body is able to move, reason, feel and do everything it does because it contains your spirit and soul. Without them, the body is useless.
• It relates with the environment. It handles and deals with things like the weather, plants, food, clothing and every other natural or man-made object in the environment.
• It contains the nerves, the brain, the 5 senses and the organs. The body has these organs because the soul needs them to interact with the environment.
• It is conscious of the world. The body only concerns itself with this world. If you allow it, it would want to please any and every desire it feels. The Bible tells us not to gratify its desires. 1 Corinthians 9:27 Romans 8:6
• It decays after death. Unlike the soul and the spirit, the body stays on earth after death. This shows that it is a rather temporary vessel. The body will, however, be given back to us at the resurrection.

How your spirit, soul and body relate to one another in the new birth.

When a man is born by his mother, his body begins to breathe and do everything humans do because of the presence of his spirit and soul. Have you considered what this means to your new birth (being born again)?

The nature of a man’s spirit determines what the man uses his body to do. When a man is born again, he acts differently from someone who is not born again. And by the way, why should we be born again? Is it important?

At the time of being born again, it is the spirit that gets saved and renewed. It becomes 100% perfect. The born again experience also causes the spirit to be intertwined with God’s Spirit. This makes it possible for that person’s soul to respond very easily to the Spirit of God.

By now, you must be wondering what happens to the body when one becomes born again. Nothing. Yes. Nothing happens to the body when someone becomes born again. However, there is a time coming when our body will be saved and this is why your works (done by your body) must change when you become born again and you must learn about your new birth and how to function in the new life.

Focusing on your heart

Your heart is the center of your soul and spirit. This is where life starts. Proverbs 4:23. That means you have to pay more attention to your spirit to help you save your soul. When the word of God stays in your heart, you are able to save your soul through the renewing of your mind.

There are some functions of the heart. They are:

• Your heart helps you receive, believe and keep God’s word.
• It controls your speech and action
• It helps you conceive and bear fruits. Psalm 1

Meditation is the only way to shape your heart rightly with the word of God. Without it, the word of God will not be grounded in your heart. This is how to save your soul and consequently bring forth fruits of righteousness. Joshua 1:8

Let’s go on to see what happens when you focus on your heart by doing spiritual exercises.

• You make the right investment. Your body needs some amount of attention but it is important to know what’s urgent and what’s not. Your hair and skin must look good but it’s not as urgent as reading God’s word, meditating and praying. Breakfast is important but it can wait until after your morning devotion. Don’t feed your body three square meals and snacks in- between, while you starve your spirit. Focusing most of your time and attention on your spirit ensures that you go through life making eternal investments.
• It helps you to save your soul. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
  Philippians 2:12 KJV. This scripture is referring to the salvation of the soul after the spirit has been saved. Your attitude, experiences, personality, beliefs and everything you were before you got born again does not get erased when you become born again. The change only happens to your spirit. So it’s now your responsibility to make your soul perfect, just like your spirit. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
  Romans 12:1‭-‬2 KJV.
• You become faithful with little and therefore, God can entrust you with much. We are not going to live on earth for too long. In fact, life on earth is insignificant, compared to eternity. It’s just a dress rehearsal for the real show in eternity. It will be very unwise for us to focus on the wrong things during the rehearsal. This is the time to serve and love Him. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37 KJV.
  You get eternal rewards as well as success on earth.