Purify Your Mind Series (Part 1) by Joe KirbySample

The War for Your Soul

A Christian friend once said this to me rather sternly: “Joe Kirby isn’t who you see in the mirror; no, the real Joe Kirby is in your soul.”

Your soul is the real you; it’s your emotions, your personality, your will, your mind. It’s no wonder the famous evangelist D.L. Moody said wryly, “I have had more trouble with D.L. Moody than with any other man who has crossed my path" (The Overcoming Life: Updated Edition).

Once we realize this, life starts to look a little less trivial. With every decision we make, we should ponder the question, Is this good for my soul? Does this career, friend, movie, social media platform, self-help guru, or swimming outfit injure my soul? Choices that seem wise in the world’s eyes are very often anti-God.

One of the worldly deceptions that kept me in the land of pornography for so long was the belief that “I need this.” I would think, I’m stressed out; I can’t keep this level of stress in my body; I need something to relax me, to take the edge off life. But it never did; in fact, it made me all the more stressed and anxious.

We can’t commit an act of uncleanness and expect to come out totally unscathed. This verse is clear that fleshly lust will always leave a wound, a scar, a defilement on the soul; and the more we return to the uncleanness, the more wounds our souls suffer. But the glorious truth of the Bible is that “by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5), and if we abstain from fleshly lusts, Jesus can sew that lacerated soul together and make it whole again in Christ.