Dharius Daniels - Are You Taking Care of Your Soul?

I’m not being condescending; I don’t think I’m better than you, but I can’t let everybody and everything have access to my mind, have access to my emotions, or have access to my will. You’ve got to earn the right to get on the other side of the gate. God is not about skill development; the life skill I’m talking about is soul-keeping. I’m not talking about developing a skill; I’m talking about keeping your soul. All throughout Scripture, we see this term called «soul,» don’t we? So, receive the engrafted word of God, which is able to save your soul, right? We are souls. It can be really confusing, though, because you hear «body» and then «flesh, ” and then you hear „spirit“ and then you hear „soul”—like, „Yo, which one is this?“ It’s the same, but the Bible, in the book of Hebrews, states that my spirit and my soul aren’t the same thing because Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the spirit and the soul, just like joints and marrow. He says spirit and soul that way. So, He says, „Now listen, your soul takes sometimes it takes the word to separate your soul from your spirit. You’re like, ‘This is God; this is me.’ It takes the word to separate them, right?“ He says it’s important; the soul is the invisible, intangible part of you that includes your mind, your will, your emotions, your imaginations, and your affections. Your mind is the organ of thought; your will is the organ of decision; emotions give you the capacity to feel; imagination gives you the passionate capacity to envision a future; and your affections are what you emotionally attach yourself to. God said, „Now I gave you a soul, but you’ve got to keep it. Y’all better talk to me!“ He says, „It’s your responsibility to be a good steward over your mind, your will, your emotions, your imaginations, and your affections. I will tell you how to do it. I will empower you through the Holy Spirit to do it, but you have to take responsibility for being the keeper of your soul because you’re responsible for what goes on with your mind, your will, your emotions, your imaginations, and your affections.“ This is the way Paul, or Solomon, puts it: „Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.“ He says, „Guard your heart; put a fence around your heart, not a wall.“ I won’t bother with that because pain will make you put up a wall when you should have put up a fence. Some people overreact to pain, and in their overreaction, they build a wall when they need to build a fence. What’s the difference? A fence has a gate, and the gate can let the right things in, but the gate can also let the wrong things out. I don’t know who this is for, but it’s gate season. Let me go to this side and see who’s going to talk back to me. It’s gate season! I’m not being stuck up; I’m not being condescending; I don’t think I’m better than you, but I can’t let everybody and everything have access to my mind, my emotions, or my will. You’ve got to earn the right to get on the other side of the gate, and some of our problems—if you think about it—are that you have no criteria for who gets on the other side of the gate. We think standards mean judgment. My standards for me are not a judgment of you. Y’all didn’t hear what I just said: my standards for me are not a judgment of you. My standards for me have nothing to do with what I think about you. My standards for me have everything to do with what I think about me. Now, if you feel judged by my standards, you need to take that up with God. I’m not judging you; I’m setting a standard for me because I know who I am, I know what I’m worth, and I know what value I bring to your life. I know your life gets leveled up when I’m in it. I know when I’m all in, I’m all in. I know when I’m with you, I’m with you, and if you can’t reciprocate, you’ve got to vacate. God, Solomon told you to guard it. He said you’ve got to guard it with diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. You have too much responsibility in this season to be reckless with your heart. You’ve got bills now; you can’t be in bed unable to go to work so you can pay the bills because you messed around and were reckless with your heart. I just don’t feel like that’s right—you’ve got to get yourself together. You’ve got kids that are dependent upon you; you’ve got a business to build; you’ve got a brand you’re establishing. You can’t be reckless. We’ve been taught to maintain an image; we’ve been taught to keep our ego; we’ve been taught to keep income, but we have not been taught how to keep our soul. So, we follow the patterns of this world and engage in grind culture. I don’t care who’s preaching it; it’s not the way of the Kingdom. Show me a time when you see Jesus running—I’ll wait. You never see Him running; you always see Him walking. Grind culture is Adamic, Adam-like in nature, „by the sweat of your brow.“ Come on now! I’m not saying don’t work hard; when I say „grind culture, ” I’m talking about this culture of self-destructive behavior that is celebrated in dominant culture.