Soul Prosperity

3 John 2

Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Prosperity, what is it really? We established yesterday that God wants all of His children to live in prosperity. Well, prosperity is a number of things combined. It is not what most people think of when you mention the term. Most would say that prosperity is one of those words that start with a P, like Possessions, Position, Power, Popularity, or Performance. No, prosperity is not in and of itself any of these things, nor is it just a combination of these. Prosperity does not start with a P. Prosperity starts with a J and it is spelled like this, J-E-S-U-S. You will find that without Jesus, there is no such thing as real prosperity. No matter how much of all the “P” words that you have, you will never be really prosperous without Jesus. That is why the Bible says that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then He will add all the other things to us. There is certainly nothing wrong with having all those things, it is just that without Jesus, a person will still be empty and void.

The Bible teaches that we came into this world with nothing and that we will go out of this world with nothing. (1 Timothy 6:7) Therefore, it makes little sense to spend all of our lives chasing after that which will not satisfy anyway. Only a fool would knowingly lose his eternal soul for a few years of the vanity of things here on the earth.

If you will notice the verse today, you will see that our prosperity is directly linked to our soul’s prospering. It is as the soul prospers that we are able to prosper totally. The soul is composed of the mind, the will, and the emotions, and is that part of our inner man that is able to link up with the renewed spirit and be able to comprehend the things of God. It is therefore necessary for total prosperity, that the soul be renewed by the Word of God daily.