A soulmate is somebody with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, love, intimacy, sexuality, spirituality, and/or compatibility. wikipedia.org
The one person who can always make you smile, who shares your hopes and dreams, who makes you whole. Urban Dictionary
a person for whom one has a deep affinity, esp a lover, wife, husband, etc. The Free Dictionary
Soul-mates started with Greek mythology (go figure) which said our ancestors once had 2 heads and four arms (for "intellectual leaders" of the times - they had weird ideas). Anyway, supposedly they did something to offend a god and were punished by being spilt down the middle, resulting in the creation of humans. Humans, as punishment were condemned to spend their lives searching for their other half or soulmate.
First, if a soul-mate is just someone or thing that makes me feel good inside and that I love - I ate it for lunch, it was a homemade pizza and it was good! Really, most people would say that their soul-mate is one that makes them "whole". That is how we are going to answer this question by using "one who makes you whole".
Second, you are not going to be surprised that we will use the book which tells us how we were really designed and about the Designer - The Bible.
Ok, the Bible does tell us a lot about our mate and about our soul. According to God's Word, we are a spirit being, living in a body, possessing a soul.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible does not us the term "soul-mate" at all, especially to define our spouses. It does use the term "help-meet" (I spelled it right) though, a very different concept altogether. In Genesis 2:18 the Hebrew expression ezer kenegdo (help-meet) appears, meaning "one who is the same as the other and who surrounds, protects, aids, helps, supports."
Genesis 2:18 AMP Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.
The body is temporary, the soul can be killed, however the spirit is eternal.
Matthew 10:28 NLT "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Death of the soul is separation from God for all eternity. Jesus came to save my soul from hell.
1 Peter 1:9 NLT The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.
Blessing's
ernie
Well said, Ernie! One of your best. One of my favorites, anyway.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
While I don't disagree with what you have said about Christ being our "completion", I think it is worth mentioning that while there are a few who are "called" with the gift of celibacy (1 Cor. 7:7), most are "called" to marry. This is not just a contractual agreement or a relationship of physical necessity or convenience to reproduce. It is a deeply physical, mental and SPIRITUL juncture. Throughout the process of creation, God states time and time again that His creation is "good". Notice He says good, not perfect. There was no need to define perfect at this poing as sin did not exist in the world and "good" as God defines it WAS perfect. Yet when He creates man, He says for the first time that it is NOT good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). God recognizes man's incompleteness without woman. Adam best describes it when he says, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:23) Notice she was taken OUT of man leaving him even more incomplete without her. This was not just a physical completion as man and woman had not sinned yet and were as a result, eternal at this time. Finally God defines the union as a completion of something incomplete when He says He made the two at the beginning to become "one flesh" (Matthew 19:4-5). Again, I am not necessarily disagreeing with you. I am simply conceding that there may be both a physical AND spiritual component to marriage.
ReplyDeleteBrenda McMullen said...
ReplyDeleteWell written Ernie. I hope many will take the time to read it.
Kyle Owenby wrote...
ReplyDelete"I read and really enjoyed the blog post on soul mates Ern. I've seen many people attempt to find fulfillment (or wholeness as you wrote about) in who they dated or their spouse, which is ultimately a futile gesture."
The concept of a soul mate as the majority of Americans see it, is totally unbiblical. In fact, many people use the idea of a soul mate as an excuse to get divorced so that can search for their true soul mate. If you are married, the person you are married to is your "soul-mate," although I too, disagree with the term, as it is not biblical. According to Mark 10:7-9, A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” A husband and wife are “united,” “one flesh,” “no longer two, but one,” and “joined together,” and if you will, "soul mates."
ReplyDeleteWow....as one who has been on that search for their "soulmate" only to have thought I found it once- so ecstatic and happy everyday for 4 years till he got sick with lung cancer and after 5 months, passed when our daughter was 10 months old....as one who has been "rushing" and "helping God" my whole life, married 4 times and now divorced... I thought this article was spot on....Wow, if I could have only read it in 1988 when I gave my heart to my abba, my Lord. I do not believe anymore, that there are human soulmates in this world...outside of Christ. HE NEEDS to be acknowledged as our "SOULMATE" because (Ernie, you are right) He is the ONLY one who CAN make our souls whole again....the ONLY one who CAN save our souls. No one in this earthly life can do that. Yes, there may be one one who has been a best friend, someone who knows our thoughts...our hearts and brains seemingly connected in some kind of supernatural crazy way...BUT to call that someone a 'soul'mate really takes away from and lessens the meaning and importance of the "SOUL" - WHICH IS ETERNAL. I think we may have "like" souls- souls that may seem alike or connected but in reality they are not- I always thought they were. Our souls are unique to us and us alone....and I know that the ONLY way MY soul can be made whole, is thru my God- the Father, my God- the Son and my God- the Holy Spirit. In my years of thinking I knew what I was doing...to find my soulmate- the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, the physical....all had to be there. The mental and emotional were understood- to have things in common, to get along, to feel close and safe enough to share everything- but the "spiritual" I felt at the time, was giving the credit to being able to pray and praise together and love Him together- to be evenly-yoked, and although that is vital in what God meant for a marriage, in reality- the "spiritual" involves the soul...and the soul is God's territory completely. I put too much emphasis on the human relationship to fulfill the spiritual need when it was my soul that was lacking and to look to man for that, was wrong- Only the Holy Spirit could take care of that. The physical part I also have given wrong attention to within the meaning of "soulmate". We give our flesh WAY too much say so and credit for our happiness in this life. The physical aspect of anything- is the flesh. It is just that, our "flesh". It will die away one day. Our soul will NOT. I understand how amazing it can be in a marriage- everything tied together- a cord of three- with the Lord as head of the household....the way God intended. But a "soulmate" is different. It SHOULD be different. We CANNOT lessen the importance of the SOUL and it's "whole"ness by attempting to tangle it up with things of this world and the flesh that will all, one day, fade away. Ernie- thank you. I needed this. Awesome article. Awesome food for thought.
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