Matthew Henry once said: “The fear of God reigning in the heart is the beauty of the soul.”1 After reading this quote I began to think just what is a human soul. Scripture makes it clear that the human soul is the eternal part of mankind that lives on after death. And according to the Bible every soul will spend eternity either in heaven or hell. As a result the salvation of the human soul is the most important thing we can pray for in the lives of the people we come in contact with.
And since we are created in the image of God our souls must be very special to Him. In fact our souls are so special that God sent His Son Jesus to die at Calvary to redeem our souls from certain eternal separation from God by virtue of our sin nature. As my mind ponders this incredible sacrifice made by our Savior for my soul, holy reverence for God fills my heart to overflowing, and that my friends is what Matthew Henry refers to as “the beauty of the soul.”
For you see our primary purpose in life is to glorify God and nothing brings our Lord more glory then when we worship and reverence Him from our heart. And when we do this the beauty of the soul, I believe, is put on full display before our holy God. Not only that but I believe that when we truly worship and reference God, He will fill us with a strong desire to want to love one another and obey His will for our lives, and thus our souls will reflect the beauty of the Lord to the world around us.
And as we radiate the love and beauty of Christ to those around us we will inevitably attract those seekers who are interested in finding out what makes us so different and compassionate. For the beauty of a soul, sold out for Christ, will always shine forth the light of the Lord to those we come in contact with. And what can be more beautiful than a soul lit up with the light of Christ shining the love of Christ to a world full of sin and utter darkness. For in the last analysis the only antidote for true spiritual darkness is the light of Christ emanating through the souls of His children – us!
1 Quote by Matthew Henry: “The fear of God reigning in the heart is the be…” (goodreads.com)
Curt, in relation to this devotion, I would love to hear your thoughts on the similar passages of Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27. Are there differences in our mind and in our soul? Anyone else is welcome to comment as well.