What is it?
Tim Isbell, May 6, 2026, last revised June 27, 2026
A few times every year, someone asks me to describe a soul. I like John Ortberg’s description: The soul is the deepest part of a person—the integrating center of life that holds together our will (which includes moral accountability), mind (which includes a flow of experienced thoughts and feelings), and body (which mostly runs by habit) into a single, whole being. The will chooses, the mind thinks, and the body acts.
Ortberg teaches that souls need nine things to satisfy their longing for wholeness, purpose, and alignment with the divine life:
Connection with God
Gratitude
Hope
Rest
Freedom
Purity
Integrity
Community
Vocation
Ortberg’s pastoral concern is that many people live “dis-integrated lives"—fragmented, hurried, and spiritually dry. Caring for the soul invariably involves:
Slowing down
Seeking rest in God
Living with integrity and gratitude
Cultivating spiritual disciplines that nourish the soul
I think John Ortberg is right.
One last thought of my own, triggered by an email from a new friend: A devout Christian's soul deeply aligns with the Creator God of everything, and does so through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. For more, click on Identity in Christ. - Tim