Day 1: Soul Strength? What is it and why is it important?

#write31days

All posts for this series are listed and linked at the bottom.

We experience and interpret our world through the soul, which is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. Our thoughts, choices, and feelings reside in the borders of our soul, making the soul a key ingredient to life.

We long to stand strong. On the hard days, we look for strength to meet challenges head on. We crave success and equate it with strength and value.

Challenges of the Soul

If you’ve ever walked through a challenge of the soul, you know what it is to long for soul strength. We often rely on ourselves–our own strength and abilities independent of Christ, and we work hard to keep some semblance of control.

So we work and strive, we control and fix, trying to force life into the mold of what it means to be OK.

My natural tendency is to depend on my own strength as I handle pressures, make plans, work towards success, and cope with problems. I have spent a long time reacting to life based on my desire know love, acceptance, value, security, and adequacy, core needs of the soul.

And though I love and trust God, I’m still learning how deep the old habits of the flesh go. I understand many of the truths of God, but in practice, I’m still learning to take off the old ways and grow into God’s way of living.

How about you?

Does this sound familiar?

Though this self striving may work for a season, God loves us too much to let us go a lifetime of depending on our own strength. Self strength is deceptive, inconsistent, and limited.

Depending on our own abilities robs us of the gift of fully experiencing the power of God at work deep within. God has so much more for us than a life of trying to make it on our own.

Soul strength.

Here is what God desires for us, and this is the heart of soul strength:

… to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…

Yes, yes, and yes!

God’s answer for all the fears and failures that we try to overcome is to trust and experience the filling power of God’s love and strength.

When we are full of Christ, we are strong, and when we are weak, He is strong.

Join me this month as I take up the 31 DayWriting Challenge. I’ll be posting throughout October with a variety of photos, verses, quotes and reflections to strengthen our souls. Will this be a stretch for this gal? You bet!

Some days I’ll simply post a picture with a verse or quick thought. A couple of days a week, there will be a longer post. I’m looking forward to what God has to show us and together we will explore…

Soul Strength. His Strength.

Here is the entire series. I will add the links as we go. Each day will also post on the blog.

Day 1: Soul Strength

Day 2: God Himself is Making Me Whole

Day 3: Recharge with a Short Rest for the Soul

Day 4: The Soul Strength of Delighting in God

Day 5: Soul Notes: God’s Smile is for You

Day 6: Soul Search: Why are You so Hard on Yourself?

Day 7: Soul Struggle: What’s the Big Deal About the Flesh?

Day 8: Soul Questions: Do You Like You?

Day 9: My Soul Knows

Day 10: Soul Conflict: Faith or Flesh?

Day 11: Soul Doing: What are You Up To?

Day 12: Soul Sabbath: Discovering the Rest of God

Day 13: Soul Thoughts in Pictures

Day 14: Soul Reach

Day 15: Soul Confidence: You are Enough

Day 16: Soul Messages: What are Your Feelings Telling You?

Day 17: Soul Truth: Feelings of Truth?

Day 18: Soul Blessings for Your Weekend

Day 19: Soul Feelings: Unlocking the Messages

Day 20: Soul Keeping: Taking Care of Your Body

Day 21: Soul Comfort: You are Loved

Day 22: Soul Thriving: Planting Roots of Faith

Day 23: Soul Glow: Shine Like Crazy

Day 24: Soul Puzzle: Finding the Right Fit

Day: 25: Soul Faith: Do You Believe God is Good?

Day 26: Soul Source: Are You Relying on Your own Efforts?

Day 27: Soul Source: Are You Relying on Your own Efforts, Part 2