You Don’t Have a Soul

You and I see everything in life through a perspective, usually our own. 

From a human perspective, we are physical creatures in physical bodies—and we each have a soul. But God does not seem to share our perspective. He sees us differently.

Pastors sometimes stimulate people by asking, “Are you a physical creature on a spiritual journey? Or are you a spiritual creature on a physical journey?”

Many people don’t even think about that. They’re physical creatures in a physical world, seeking physical accomplishment, physical satisfaction, and physical comfort. Some people indeed seek spiritual things, yet the predominant goal still seems to be: Whoever gets the most toys wins.
 
The more we grasp God’s—the Bible’s—perspective on things, the more we see that our physical lives are temporary and secondary to our spiritual lives, which are eternal. In God’s eyes we are fundamentally spiritual creatures on a physical journey—and our journey is temporary.
 
To fully grasp this will change our perspective on life and, hopefully, how we live it.
 
C.S. Lewis took it one step further and said it more bluntly: “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” This yanks us out of theoretical pondering down to gut identity. At first it freaks me out.
 
I don’t have a soul? Oh my.
 
I am a soul. That’s my eternal nature, my core identity.
 
I have a body. It’s external, temporary, just like the world I live in.
 
My body is getting older and will die. My soul is getting younger, as I grow in faith, and will live forever.
 
Note to self: I-am-a-soul. I-have-a-body.
 
I am an eternal creature in a short-term body. I can never be a “normal” person again.
 
Can you?