Spirit Bond

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

SOUL TIE OR SPIRIT TIE?

We, brethren, have been bereft of you for a short while - in person, not in spirit - were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.  I Thess. 2:17

            Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this to the believers in Thessalonica, but though they were geographically separated, they were together in spirit.  He felt it.  The Holy Spirit, in him, was connected to the Holy Spirit, in them.

            Spirit ties are healthy, conceived by God.  The common denominator in their unity is the Holy Spirit who binds people together.  This very phenomenon is what makes for a great marriage, an enduring and strong friendship, and a harmonious home.  God desires that all of us fatten our Spirit, that place where His Spirit speaks to us, so that one Spirit-filled believer can connect to another Spirit-filled believer.  The result is a bond that spans distance and time.  It will take them into eternity where their relationship will continue where it left off on earth. 

            A soul tie is a completely different thing.  The soul is the place in me where my 'flesh' lives.  It consists of my beliefs, my feelings, and my mental grid from which I am tempted to rule my life.  My soul can be ruled by my spirit if I submit to it, but I must be infused enough with scripture to live that way.  Because I am prone to idolatrous ways, the needs of my soul may rage.  If I'm not careful, I will perceive that I need another person to thrive.  My soul reaches out to that other soul, and we begin to feed off of each other.  (soul-mates)  Anytime there is manipulation, control, or domination, you can be sure that a soul tie exists. 

            This is not of God and He wants me to sever the soul tie, that unhealthy connection, which exists between me and another.  I am not to be controlled, nor control, anyone else.  Those in soul-tie relationships are tied to the other person just as surely as if a spiritual umbilical cord connected them.  Only God can sever that cord, in response to our prayers, so that we can hear and obey the Spirit instead of our flesh.
  

Help me see every relationship in my life today through Your eyes. Amen