Man is an earthbound spirit living through a physical body. The components of the human spirit are the heart, mind, word and soul. The latter, however, embraces the former three.
The following renders a broad definition of these parts including the human spirit. The Christian reader might find it surprisingly different to what has been commonly taught, but will find that it reflects what the Bible teaches.
The HUMAN SPIRIT is a living being, of spiritual substance, and has spiritual shape and form not unlike that of your physical body through which it personifies itself.
The HEART of the human spirit encompasses the consciousness of the human spirit as a living entity and seats your individuality, intellect and emotions. This is where your personality is formed and reflected to the world you live in. And, importantly, the place God looks at.
The MIND of the human spirit is the decision-maker of the heart. It takes what is in the heart and decides how to portray it or how to apply it to circumstances. Depending on the condition of the heart, the mind can be honest or deceitful in its deliberations. Your mind is the executive officer of your life.
The WORD of the human spirit comprehensively covers the entire nature of you as an individual spiritual being. Your word reflects the condition of your heart, which your mind extracts and offers to the world. You are your word. You have nothing else. The world judges you by your word. And so will God.
The SOUL of the human spirit is nothing more than a representation of the sum total of you as a living being with spirit, heart, mind and word and history of your life. You are counted as a soul, such as in a census of human population. God counts you as either a saved or lost soul.
Where does the human brain fit in? Would it surprise you to hear that the human brain does not think, has no so-called "brain power" and neither does it not hold any memories? It is the heart of the human spirit where thoughts are generated and memories are stored. The brain is purely the (physical) mechanism used (and powered) by the human spirit to express itself to the physical world. The next time you point to your head in front of others to indicate that you are busy thinking - think again. Thought processes are taking place through the brain and not by the brain - that is why it might feel like it's all taking place up there.
Just to stress the reality of man being an earthbound spirit enacting itself through a physical covering, let's look at a few scenarios and maybe have a little laugh up our sleeve at some of them.
A man mowing the lawn is a spirit mowing the lawn.
A group of people having a chat around a table is a group of spirits having a chat.
Gossipers are spirits gossiping about other spirits.
Boxers in a ring pounding each other are spirits battering each other’s bodies.
A man speeding past in a flashy car is a spirit catapulting his body forward in a modern chariot. He hopes to impress the bodies of other spirits.
A fashion model strutting unnaturally on a ramp with a far-away stare like a motorized robot, is a spirit doing just that.
A suicide bomber killing as many people as possible is a spirit destroying the bodies of many spirits. Little does he know that nobody dies - they only move on to the spiritual realm.
A person consulting a psychiatrist is a spirit consulting another spirit, neither looking beyond the brain for answers.
People drinking it up in a pub are spirits filling their bodies with alcohol, making it difficult for their sober spirits to communicate via numbed brains. Drug addicts do the same.
And then there are earthbound spirits who live in greed and corruption at the expense of other earthbound spirits. Some are leaders of nations who find reasons for war for the sake of monopolistic economic power.
Make no mistake, as earthbound spirits we are supposed to live through physical bodies. The physical body of man is a wonderful creation, fused to the spirit so that it responds instantaneously to the actions of the spirit, like a puppet with millions of strings attached. And although the senses of our bodies, effectively, provide sensual benefits to the body only, they are only functional because of the spirit within.
God is a spirit and He speaks.
Angels are spirit and they speak.
We are spirit - and we speak.
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