Does self-care extend to soul-care?

Posted at Reformation Scotland:

Self-care is an important priority for many people today. We are all encouraged to promote and protect our physical, mental and emotional well-being and happiness, especially during periods of stress. In one of his sermons however, William Guthrie challenged people as to whether they really prioritised the most valuable things about themselves — their souls. If we really valued our souls, his point was, we have a funny way of showing it. Contrasting with the slapdash treatment we give our souls is the immense care that the Lord Jesus took over them. In the following updated extract from his sermon, William Guthrie points out the great lengths that Jesus Christ went to, in the interests of our souls. His text was Matthew 16:26: “For what is a man profited, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”


Christ has been urging the company that were hearing Him, and His own disciples also, to sacrifice themselves for the truth, at all hazards. In these words He uses a double argument. The one is, What are you profited, if you should gain the whole world, and lose your own soul for worldly gain? The truth is, you are a perfect and an absolute loser. It cannot be told what loss you have, and how bad a bargain you have made. The other is, If you pawn or pledge your soul for this, you will not be able to set it free again at your own pleasure. The text says, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

How does Jesus show He values our souls?


Christ Jesus values the human soul at a very high rate; for He has calculated that He sets the whole world at nought in comparison to one soul. He says, “Though a man should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, he is a perfect and an absolute loser.” “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” Christ said this to the man who had enlarged his barns, and provided nothing for his soul. Christ values the souls very much. How does He show it?

The care He took in devising the gospel


That glorious contrivance of the gospel speaks forth what a high esteem God puts upon the souls of men. Great has been the work and business of its contrivance, in order that His will may be revealed and made known to men: all is done with a design to save the soul. And if there were no more to speak of Him than the Bible, it sufficiently shows how He values and esteems the souls of men. He can make thousands of worlds at one word; and yet He has taken much pains in contriving a way how to deal with men’s souls, and about that great and glorious business of man’s redemption.

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