Today’s guest post comes from my friend, Brandon Shuman. He offers his thoughts on the value of your soul. Definitely a provocative and challenging read. Enjoy!
You cannot buy your soul. But you can sell it. That is a sobering thought. It is alarming to realize that we can spend away that which is most valuable and are not able to get it back. Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth century writer, once observed “nothing occurs quieter in the world (than the loss of a soul): any other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars is more certain to be noticed.” Even more alarming is the fact that we sell our souls each moment of every day. This all-important transaction occurs whether we realize it or not. The question then becomes not a matter of if we are selling our souls, but what are we getting in exchange for something so valuable? And furthermore what is the very best way to spend them?
To this end I would like to offer a few brief remarks and point our attention to the words of Christ to help us on our way.
We cannot keep our souls. We cannot avoid spending them. Every moment presents to us a choice. Every moment we must decide what we will do with our souls. Every moment contains the dangerous risk that we will misspend our souls. We are free to choose the way in which they are spent, but we are also responsible for our decisions. How will we spend our souls?
Christ makes the following offer to all in Luke 9:23-24, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”
These verses teach many things, but among them are the following truths.
- Spending one’s soul in pursuit of Christ is a continual… daily… momentary act of denial of one’s self for the sake of Christ.
- We will lose our souls[1] in the pursuit of trying to save them.
Christ continues, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits himself?”[2] This rhetorical question implies a negative response. In other words, Christ is telling us that even if were able to purchase the entire world in exchange for our souls, we would still be on the losing end of the deal. That is really saying something considering that no one has ever gained the world. Of course most of us are not entertaining the thought of world conquest. Our ambitions are set much, much lower. But this begs the question- if the world itself is not worth our souls, how much less are the frivolous pursuits we aspire toward?
So what, then are our souls worth?
The answer is startling. Our souls are valuable enough for God to die for. Recalling this fact, should cause us to evaluate how we spend our souls during each moment for the rest of our lives.
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15
[1] The Greek word “pysuche” is translated here as “Life” but literally means “Soul”.
[2] Luke 9:25, The “Soul” is the “Self”
Brandon Shuman is a teacher, writer, husband, and father. He serves the Lord in Midland, Texas with his wife, Laura and two month old son, Rowan. He recently published his first book, Growing in the Gospel. Buy the book and find out more at www.growinginthegospel.com.
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