How Is It with Your Soul?

The definition of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) according to the Oxford dictionary is, “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions and to handle the interpersonal relationships, judiciously, and empathetically.”

An evaluation of our relational fitness is one of the key indicators of the health of our soul as we assess the capacity of our personal infrastructure. In Session 2 of The Master’s Program, I ask the women in our TMP cohorts if there is a difference between emotional intelligence and relational fitness. There is usually a long pause.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, “High EQ is a must-have skill for effective leaders and can be a predictor of performance.” Many leaders have developed a keen self-awareness with the ability to regulate their own emotions and influence the emotions of people around them, but does this imply that their soul is fit?

Dallas Willard says, “‘Soul’ is here defined as the hidden or “spiritual” side of the person. It includes an individual’s thoughts and feelings, along with heart or will, with its intents and choices. It also includes an individual’s bodily life and social relations, which, in their inner meaning and nature, are just as “hidden” as the thoughts and feelings.”

The soul is the seat of our mind, will, and affections. If it has not been reborn and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, is the capacity limited in authentic relational fitness?

As we reflect on Spiritual fitness, in Tab 4 we are reminded that when the Holy Spirit has residency in our hearts, there is now a capacity for genuine relational fitness. Here is where the Spirit has given us the capacity to function in the new nature; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and, self-control. These attributes, when yielded to, inform the soul and manifest true health and flourishing through our relationships. Then those around us can “taste and see that the Lord is good!”