Heart And Soul

Back in the 50's, the Doo-Wop group Cleftones had a hit with the song Heart and Soul. How many times have we heard those two words used together? One of my favorite phrases is to say that I believe something with "all my heart and soul". In our society today, I think these two words have become synonymous. But I don't believe they mean the same thing when used in the Bible. Consider John 14:1 where Jesus tells us to not let our hearts be troubled. But in Mark 14:34, He admits that His soul has become deeply troubled. Is this contradictory? I did a little research and found something interesting. The word heart derives from the Greek word Kardia, while the word soul derives from Psu-khe. In Greek, not only do the words heart and soul derive from different words, they also mean two different things. Psu-khe(soul) has to do with our feelings or emotions, and kardia(heart) has to do with our intellect or focus.

I believe what Jesus is teaching us is that it is ok to feel sorrow when bad things happen. But we should not allow that sorrow to derail us from following His will. In other words, it is ok to slow down and cry sometimes, but don't completely stop. There is no way around trials and storms in our lives. As humans, we can't help but to feel sadness and despair when these things happen. But we can't let those feelings rule our mind. We need to stay focused on Jesus! We will prevail! This too shall pass! There is a mountain on the other side of the valley! Daylight always follows darkness!

Psalm 51:10 says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Father, help us to keep our hearts separate from our souls. I ask you to bless all those who are hurting at this hour. Please don't allow that hurt to last too long. In Jesus name, Amen.