Minister to the Whole Man
She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit]. Proverbs 31:20 (Amplified Bible Classic Edition, AMPC)
This verse speaks of a wife of noble character who is godly and diligent. Proverbs 31 may speak of a woman, but it is not just for women. The things mentioned in that chapter also apply to the church, the bride of Christ. The things mentioned there are standards and goals for each of us. They describe how we are to reach out to others and minister to them. We are to meet their needs- body, mind (soul), and spirit.
Consider an unsaved person who is hungry. They can’t hear what you are saying to them because their hunger is speaking louder. First we must meet their physical needs, then we can minister to them on another level. Then, we can engage their mind because they begin to think about how we care for them. This opens them up to think on what we say as we share Christ with them. As they see the demonstration of God’s love, they can hear of who He is, that He is Love. We minister to their mind with God’s Word to change thir thinking and show them that God is a good God. They think on the love of Jesus and they come to understand that they need Him. At this point, we are ministering to them on a spiritual level. We can lead them to salvation because we first met their physical needs, spoke to their soul, and touched their spirit. We ministered to the whole man.
On the other hand as we minister to believers, it usually works in reverse. First, we minister to the spirit, the deepest part of them and work to get the mind (soul) transformed so their spirit can be dominant over their soul and body. We must use the Word of God to strengthen the spirit, then transform the mind to change their thinking. The infilling of the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues is also key to building up the spirit man. In the soul, God can heal their mind, touch their emotions, and strengthen their will so they will choose to obey God rather than sin. Once the soul lines up with the Word of God, the spirit of the man can rule the man, and his body lines up. When we feed the spirit man the Word of God, it gets stronger and is the dominant part of the person. And, as they are filled with the Spirit again and again, the spirit develops more and more. Then the soul and body come under the authority of the man’s spirit and align with the Word, and healing and deliverance can flow. So we see that even when ministering to believers, we minister to the whole man.
God is interested in the entire person, spirit, soul, and body. When a person is physically well, healthy in their soul, and whole in their spirit, they are living the life God wants them to live.
