Your Soul

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake [that is, for Jesus], you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:25-26, NLT)

Your soul is where the physical (your body) meets the spiritual. Your soul is all of you, your ‘life’. When you refer to “my soul”, you are literally saying “I, myself”. The original word in Greek in the verses above is psychē (ψυχή), which sums it up pretty well. Even the translation of ‘life’ in the verses uses the Greek word psychē.

I have always found “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” an evocative question. A number of bible translations actually say “forfeit your soul”, making it sound like you have cancelled yourself. An attribute of your soul is its existence beyond physical survival and success. The verses above are saying that the things of this world will not do you any good if you “forfeit” your eternal existence.

We often think about “gaining the whole world” in terms of material possessions, but for me it also means instances of lowering my standards or compromising my morals. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Are you chasing after the things of this world, or are you compromising the things that you shouldn’t? Is anything worth more than your soul?