Happy New Year! (I forgot to say that yesterday... Please forgive me. )

Okay. So we're still sort of in the soul today since emotions can get the best of us when it comes to love. Today we'll spend time on love and the connection between the heart and soul. Let's go...

He loves me...he loves me not... He loves me... As a young girl, I remember saying this while plucking petals from a flower. But what is love? A million times I thought I was in love, but after the newness of the relationship wore off, the only things left were cordial words and sex. Can you relate?

Love n.: a deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or devotion to a person or persons. (Webster)
Lust n.: a desire to gratify the senses; bodily appetite. (Webster)

Defined, it's clear to see the difference between love and lust, which I'm sure you already know. But I wanted to make the definitions readily available for the work we'll do today. Now, put on your boots, we're about to go deeper... 

We are 3 parts: spirit, soul and body. As mentioned yesterday, your soul is your thoughts, emotions and will. Well, your spirit (the breath of God) is your conscience. Or let me say it this way: the voice of your spirit is your conscience.  

Conscience n.: a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with an urge to do right; moral judgment that opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle and that leads to feelings of guilt if one violates such a principle. (Webster)

Now, this is why I said yesterday that you have to make your thoughts and emotions submit to your spirit. Your spirit (conscience) already knows right from wrong once it has been exposed to the truth about a matter. But the soul can easily be confused. When the soul has only known rejection and hurt, how can it really know what love is?

Just like the body, the spirit and soul need to be fed in order to grow and thrive. The spirit requires spiritual food which can only come from God. The Word feeds your spirit and tunes your heart to hear from God. However, the soul requires wisdom (Godly wisdom that is) and "love deposits." Yes... the soul needs to know love or it will be restless, even to the point of becoming desperate, leading to destructive behavior with men.

The soul is fed by the troubles of life and our experiences - good or bad. And although we are not to blame for the hurtful things that were deposited into our soul as a child like teasing by other kids, or parents and other family members who may have said or done hurtful things to us, these negative deposits take over like weeds choking out good sprouts. And guess what? Those damaging weeds remain there affecting our thoughts and emotions and every decision we make until we seek to gain control of our thought life, emotions and will. 

This is where the heart comes in. Your heart involves your soul in everything it does. The heart is a "clearing house" so to speak. Your memory, and soul (thoughts, emotions and will) makes inputs into your clearing house. The heart is where you decide to obey your soul or your spirit. Here's a scenario given as an example of what I mean: 

Mister too fine for words approaches you and starts a conversation. You don't see a wedding band on his finger so you continue to check him out knowing he's doing the same. You engage him in conversation and when he asks for your telephone number, you give it with no problem because you already know (from questioning) that he's not married. After meeting him a few times (not a date) at a local coffee shop for conversation, you finally ask the right questions and find out that he lives with someone...a woman he is in a romantic relationship with. Even so, he tells you that the relationship is not working out and that he will be moving out into his own place soon. You really, really like the conversations you've had and the chemistry is
definitely there.

What would you do? Given this scenario without any other details of his relationship with this woman, will you continue to get to know him? 
 
Morally, no further details would be needed. You either date married or attached men or you don't. But it's not always that simple (trust me, I know). If after reading this scenario, you began to reason whether or not you should keep talking to this guy, your heart is processing memories, perhaps previous hurts dealing with a similar experience, and getting input from your "will" which is even more powerful than anything else talked about here. So which do you obey...your soul and its desires or your spirit which wants to do the right thing? You should give your response considerable thought as it will be a good indicator for you of the condition of your heart and soul. 

Okay. I think we've gone deep enough for today. Let's come back up for air now. Back to L-O-V-E... Love is not to be confused with affection, infatuation, or chemistry with a man. All of these things give you good feelings, but they do not equate to love. Love requires commitment - the chains of love and commitment are linked together, and love is able to prove itself without ever saying a word.

So how do you know if it's love that you're feeling? A man will be patient with you and accepting of whatever decisions you have made for your life (abstinence, etc.). On the other hand, lust is impatient and demanding and it seeks only to be satisfied, and once it is, it moves on until the next craving.

Is your heart broken and your soul bruised by life? Does it seem impossible to find true love? Close the door to lust and give love a chance to grow in your heart and soul. The love of God is what I'm talking about. When you realize how much God loves you - and this is a process - your soul will heal from the past, and your heart will respond with joy. 

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Require more, ladies. The right man will love you for it. Don't allow a few good conversations over the phone and sensual comments about your body and good looks influence your ability to make sound choices with men. The idea is for love and commitment to grow together.

Things to remember:
- Build your spirit. It will sustain you through life's challenges. The spirit knows the truth; it will help you rise above a situation and will never lead you wrong.
- Be careful of what you feed your soul; and allow God to heal the unfruitful things already there.

Biblical Truth: God's Holy Spirit indwells us and speaks to us through our spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Helper. He will lead and guide you into all truths. This is why you can trust your spirit when you have accepted Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit only speaks what God has told him which is the greatest reason why you can trust your conscience, so be sure not to subdue it thereby falling into denial. Spend some time with God daily to see what He has to say to you about your life - the purpose, plan, and vision for you concerning Him. He's waiting...
 
Okay. I'm signing off now. I know the first two days have been a lot to think about. If you're new to TAKE6, check out the 2nd Watch 2010 at the left Archive menu. The information tomorrow will be lighter - but still thought provoking. Tomorrow we'll flow into the concept of acceptance. Oh...remember Proverbs 3:5-6.

Till tomorrow...
--Icen