The Word of God Protects us From Ourselves

The Word of God is alive. It is active. It is surgical. The cut it makes distinguishes between soul and spirit.

The makeup of all human beings is comprised of body, soul, and spirit. The soul of a person is different from the spirit. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh, while the word for spirit is ruach. The soul is that part of us that houses the breath of God, making us a living being. We come alive and have thought, reason, affection, a will, and consciousness. It is the self of who we are, quickened to life by the breath of God.

The spirit, however, is that part of us designed to house the Holy Spirit. This is where we encounter God as He enters us to purify and refine ourselves to become Christlike. The soul is the self, and the spirit is the surrender of self to God. The Word of God penetrates to reveal to us where we are not surrendering our will to Him.

In certain behaviors that most would consider heinous, it is easy to see that we have not surrendered. But the Word of God is penetrating us at the level of our inclinations before we have made a conscious choice to act on them. The Word of God can protect us from ourselves, bringing out the ungodly thoughts and attitudes before we actually live them out and cause harm to our life and others.

Most of us would give almost anything to go back and undo the grievous mistakes and sins of our past. But do we see the power of the Word to stop us before we do those things again? This is why we should treasure the Word of God for this alone—to save us from ourselves, to keep us from making the same types of mistakes again and again.

Prayer

Lord, increase my hunger for Your Word and protect me from myself. Amen.