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Well, here we are again. It's our third article on dying to self, and we'll be covering our second choice. For review, our first question to consider was: Jesus or me - who's going to be Lord? That brings us to choice number two: Who's going to be in charge - me or me or me?

You may have heard that we're made up of a spirit, soul, and body - that's the “me, me, or me” I'm referring to. Our body is simply our physical body. That one is pretty straightforward. Our soul is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. Or you can think about it as our intellect, drive, and feelings. Our spirit is our innermost part. It's the part that's “reborn/born again” at salvation.

Here are a few quick points: Our body ages, dies, and someday we'll get a new one. It's the “tent” for our soul and spirit. Our soul is the part that needs to be retrained after we place our faith in Christ. Our spirit is the part that's being referred to when we're called righteous - it's the part that looks like Christ. It's who we really are. But it's up to us to decide which of these three are going to be in charge - our spirit, soul, or body.

Don't think the body can speak to you? While helping plan a women's conference, a friend of mine suggested that maybe we should fast. I heard myself say, “That sounds like a good idea.” Internally, I heard my body screaming, “NOOO! Why would we want to do that?!” Another four-letter word that will get your body talking is D-I-E-T. Yup. We shouldn't work ourselves to a point of exhaustion or injury, but if our decisions are heavily influenced by our physical comfort, our body's voice may be too loud for our own good.

As for our soul, if our decisions are dictated by emotions, our opinions, our “logic,” or self-centered motives, it's the one we're listening to. Feelings and logic have a place, but being in charge unchecked isn't it. This strong-willed part of us definitely needs to be retrained under the Holy Spirit's guidance. Before becoming a believer our life is run by our soul and body, so don't be surprised when they don't want to go down without a fight.

Recently a situation came up involving one of my children. Immediately my emotions and opinions flared up. My “soul” was loud and quick to respond. Thankfully, the Lord's been working with me on trusting Him, so with that being fresh on my mind, I prayed. That moment allowed me to not only invite Jesus into the situation, but also put my spirit in charge of the decisions. I'm glad I did, because things ended up fine, which wouldn't have been the case if my soul had been let loose.

Matthew 16:24 (ESV, underlining added) says, “Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'”

I underlined “take up his cross” this time because when Jesus took up His cross, He faced a very real battle against His soul and body. We see this when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. His body and soul did NOT want to go through what was up ahead. But in surrendering to God's plan, Jesus was choosing to live out of His spirit, and in doing so the result was great victory for Him and us.

When we choose our spirit over our soul and body, it may be like carrying a cross in that it won't make sense to our soul and it may feel uncomfortable to our body. I don't know about you, but I've never accidentally found myself carrying around a cross. Allowing our spirit to have the loudest voice is going to have to be a conscious choice. It will get easier as we strengthen that part and retrain our soul. Which brings us to:

What we “feed” grows. Makes sense, doesn't it? Our spirit is who we REALLY are, but we need to feed that part to strengthen it. We do that by ingesting God's Word, regurgitating it, and chewing on it again. (Yum.) As God's Word changes and renews our thinking, our soul begins to line up more with our spirit. That's our goal - to have our soul and body agree with our spirit. This process will be completed when we die or when Jesus returns.

If I look back through the years, I can see my mentalities and advice morphing, becoming less “soulish” and more spiritually minded. I still haven't completely switched over - I still have a lot of learning and growing to do - but God's working on me. Have you checked your views and advice lately? Are they soulish or godly?

Every believer is faced with this decision - which part of me is going to be in charge? May we be mindful to live out of and identify with our spirit and encourage others to do so as well.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV) - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.