The Stuff of Which We’re Made
Then God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis1:26a
What exactly constitutes the whole person? According to Dr. Neil T. Anderson, pastor and professor, and Watchman Nee, Chinese pastor and preacher in the 20th century, three major aspects of a person must be considered: the spiritual, the mental (soul), and the physical.
Functional medicine proposes that over time, if one of these aspects is off-kilter, this imbalance will lead to any variety of illness ranging from gastrointestinal to chronic fatigue. The aspects which comprise the whole person are broken down as follows:
Spiritual: spirit
Mental (Soul): emotion, intellect, will
Physical: body
Our spiritual aspect has a void which must be filled.
The mental aspect — referred to as the soul — comprises our emotion, will, and intellect.
With the emotion, we feel. We feel anger, love, fear, joy, etc. emanating from ourselves and acknowledge feelings emanating from others as well.
With the intellect, we think. We think, deduce, compute, create. We deduce what went wrong with the car (it ran out of gas). We compute mathematical problems, perhaps we create the next fad!
With the will, we act. We act upon that which we feel and/or think.
The physical aspect is the tool with which to operate on this side of eternity. The physical (body) can be seen and touched. It has mass.
The physical surrounds the soul. The soul surrounds the spirit.
Ideally people act upon (will) their well-thought-out beliefs (intellect) and well-suited desires (emotion). When the soul is integrated, this allows for harmony between the physical and the spiritual; the soul being the pivot.
This harmony of the neurological, immunological, and endocrinological axis allows for the optimization of cellular function.
Optimal cellular function, and Truth reigning supreme in our spirit, is the basis for whole-being wellness.
Your hands made me and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Your commandments. Psalm 119:7
