It's time to be honest about your souls

Do you know one of my biggest pet peeves? I bet you don’t, because you could be reading this blog post and have no idea who I am. Well, my name is Jason Raitz and it’s nice to meet you. Ok, now for the pet peeve. When I say or anyone says…”Can I be honest with you”? Why is that a pet peeve? Well, here’s my thinking about it. Shouldn’t we always be honest? I just don’t get why we’re so inclined to ask if someone wants us to be honest? Can you imagine if someone says, “actually, can you be 50% honest”? Hah. No, we want the honest truth, unless it’s about our outfit. Hah. 

Here’s where I’m going with all of this, it’s time to be honest about our souls. Why? Here’s the reality, if you’re going to be the kind of leader and person who is going to make it a priority to Speak with People and not at them, your soul has to be healthy. It’s as matter of fact as that. Sure, you can say nice words and even kind words. But, if your soul is not healthy, whole and filled, your words honestly won’t matter. The receiver of those words will most likely figure out that they are hollow and meaningless. Ouch, I know but, we’re in honest territory right now. 

If you’re going to elevate the importance of healthy communication in your life, then you must start with a healthy soul. So, what exactly is the soul? John Ortberg wrote that "The soul is the coolest, eeriest, most mysterious, evocative, sacred, eternal, life-directing, fragile, indestructible, controversial, expensive dimension of your existence." So often we’re taught to care more for our car than our soul and we have to reverse that trend. This is so important because like John Ortber says, “when the soul is understood and attended to, we can be liberated from hurry, preoccupation, unsatisfied desires, and chronic discontent”. 

Dallas Willard, who was called the healer of souls, once said when it came to our souls health,  “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” Wow, does that hit you as hard as it hit me? I mean, our lives are busy and we have things to do. How in the world can we ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives? 

But, the reality is, if you don’t take your soul's health seriously, you will not be able to communicate anything of value to the people in your life. So, today is the day to take stock of your soul’s health. Start with asking yourself these questions: Am I always hurried? Is my temper short? Do my words bite? Are people just a means to an end? Do my actions match my words? Are people afraid around me? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, it’s time to do some serious soul work. 

Here are some easy steps to bring some health back to your soul:

1. Schedule time to be alone. Unhurried time that you can talk with God and just listen. 
2. Listen before you speak. Hold your tongue and let others finish talking before you jump into the conversation. 
3. Do something weekly that fills your soul.? Go on a hike, a long drive, a swim, a movie, whatever it is for you. 

Make sure to check out this week’s Jay’s Fav’s because we put some great resources in there to help you refresh your soul. When your soul is filled and healthy, the words that you speak into others will be extremely powerful and you will change their world!