I read a book recently that said, “A home has a soul…” It made me stop for a second because I know that it obviously doesn’t have a soul the way humans do, but proverbially speaking, I was like, “You know what? They do!”

A house that is being built needs the right tools and the strongest materials. It needs to stand firm in storms. It can’t have cracks or holes because that would let in things we don’t want in there. It needs to keep out the heat on hot summer days and keep out the cold on dark winter days. Above all, it needs to have a strong foundation, for without that, how can it stand?

A house becomes a “home” by what we bring into it. 

Is our house clean and tidy? And, I don’t mean Pinterest clean, where it shows spotless homes 24/7 and you wonder if anyone even lives there, haha. I mean a clean house that shows that the people who live there care for it.  

• Is there clutter in places that need a little TLC? 
• Can we feel a constant spirit of anger in the home? Or, is it filled with joy? 
• Do the movies that are watched in the home bring good spirits in, or do they invite the kind we know don’t belong there? 
• Do people feel God’s spirit in the house?

Do you see where I’m going with this?

You see, our home doesn’t have a “soul” the way a human does, but it’s what I will call a Soul House. A house that turns into a home, and the “soul” (or spirit) in our dwelling depends on the things we do, say, and bring into it.

Our heart and mind are also affected by our actions and the things we allow inside. 

• Are our hearts clean and tidy? Or, do we have some things that don’t belong? 
• Is the clutter taking over, too much to bear? 
• Are we filling our hearts with things the Lord would want us to?

I know for me, I don’t like clutter in our home. It makes me feel chaotic and I don’t like it, so I do what needs to be done to make sure we don’t have that. I feel the same way with my heart and mind. They go hand in hand! If our house is cluttered, then my mind feels cluttered, and vice versa.

Have you ever gone to someone’s house, and you knew as soon as you walked in that God didn’t reside there? I have, and knew I needed to immediately leave. The soul of that home wasn’t good. Think about how good you feel going to the homes of our church family. They are filled with God and His goodness!

We all need to evaluate our homes at times and make sure the soul of our house is pleasing to God.

“And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” Isaiah 32:18

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.