Losing Your Soul

“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?” – Matthew 16:26

Have you ever wondered what Jesus means by this statement in Matthew 16:26?  What is the soul?  Can a Christian lose his or her soul?

Do you remember the last time you had to make a decision between remaining true to your values and losing a business opportunity? Most of us face this dilemma everyday in business and even in our personal lives.  Do you cheat on a test in order to pass or risk failing?  Do you tell the truth on your taxes and pay more money or lie and pay less?  Do you tell the truth to your customers and risk losing their business or do you lie to protect yourself and preserve them as clients?  When faced with these daily choices we need to consider that every time we compromise what we believe in and ignore the conviction in our hearts to advance ourselves, protect ourselves or make more money, we are trading our souls for the riches of the world.  Each compromise takes away a piece of our souls.

In Matthew 16:26 and Mark 8:36 Jesus asks, “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?”  Here Jesus puts the world with all of its treasures and riches on one side of the scale and puts the soul of one man – not all men, but one single human being – on the other side of the scale and declares to exchange your soul for the whole world is a losing proposition.  The soul of one single human being is worth more than all the riches and treasures in the earth. I always interpreted this statement as a warning about where we would spend eternity if we compromise spiritual things (things that are most valuable) for material things (things that will pass away). But here Jesus is not dealing solely with the eternal residence of our souls, He is also dealing with the present state of our souls.  In other words Jesus is not just making a case for the consequences of the afterlife. Rather, He is making a case for the consequences of our lives now.  Jesus recognized that our fulfillment and peace of mind are based not on the abundance of our possessions, but on the tranquility and harmony of our souls.

The soul is the essence of who we really are.  It is the internal, non-tangible part of our person that makes up the integral part of our being.  All persons have souls, whether Christians or not but the soul of those with a personal relationship with Christ has a guiding compass called the Holy Spirit which guides and directs them towards the things of God.  Whenever you operate contrary to the things you believe in, you are damaging your soul. If you do that enough times without repenting you will eventually lose your soul.  Many have lost their souls while serving God because personal success, influence or building a big enterprise became their goal rather than pleasing God and being of service to their fellow man.  What can cause you to lose your soul?

• Your values are compromised in your personal and business life
• You constantly violate the Sabbath
• The end starts justifying the means
• Your focus is on what is “big” rather what is significant
• Your focus is on money rather than service
• You are not repentant
• You primary goal becomes winning

Just because you are a Biblical Entrepreneur does not mean you are immune from trading your soul for success. To prevent yourself from losing your soul you must determine in your heart that it is better to have little with righteousness than to have a whole lot without right, no matter what. (Proverbs 16:8)

My prayer for you this week is that God will reveal to you those areas that you have compromised in and give you the courage to repent and seek His grace to be different.