The human soul is important to the Lord because it is part of how God created you in His image. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground (body), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (spirit); and man became a living being (soul/mind).” Just as God is a triune being (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we too, created in His image, are triune beings (spirit, soul, body).
Another reason the soul is important is that it is valuable to the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The soul will live on past this life. If we belong to Jesus, He will purify it completely in Heaven. But while we are here, we are to renew our minds. (See Romans 12:2.) We can lose our minds to the sin and the junk of this world, or we can surrender and renew our minds in the Lord and become useful in His will. Jesus sees our souls as so valuable that He not only wants to use them, but He also shed His blood to purchase them. (See Philippians 2:5, 8).
The human soul is referred to mostly in Scripture as the mind. In Hebrew (Old Testament language), the soul is nepes, and in Greek (New Testament language), it is psyche. There are a couple of instances in Scripture in which soul is used to describe our eternal spirits, but mostly it is used in reference to our minds. The New Testament verse that describes us as a triune being, similar to Genesis 2:7, is 1 Thessalonians 5:23, which says, “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.”
So why is your soul important? Jesus created it, died for it, wants to renew it, and is coming back for it!
