Strong In Spirit

This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. 3 John 1:1-4

IN THE BRIEF LETTER of 3 John, we get to read a personal letter between the apostle John and a man named Gaius. Gaius was one of John’s beloved spiritual children who kept the faith and supported the spread of the gospel. John calls this friend “beloved” and reveals the content of his prayers for him. “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul” (verse 2, ESV). His prayer for Gaius is that he would have good physical health as well as good spiritual health.

In the typical church we do a lot of asking for prayer about health concerns. We check in with each other in regard to health issues. But we don’t do as well when it comes to sickness of the soul. We are hesitant to ask for prayer when our souls are ailing. And it can easily be the same in our families. We can be very tuned in to the physical health of our children while rarely, if ever, checking in with them on the state of their souls.

What makes a soul sick is knowing the truth about Christ and resisting or rejecting that truth. The incongruity of claiming to belong to Christ while living as one who belongs to the world robs a soul of vitality. John found great joy in hearing that his spiritual child, Gaius, was living out the truth of the gospel. Likewise, our greatest joy comes from hearing and seeing that our children are not struggling with a sickness of soul caused by inconsistency in living out what they claim to believe, but are following the truth.

Lord, grant me this privilege! Give me the joy of hearing that ________ is following the truth. Save ________ from the soul sickness caused by hypocrisy and hiding. Let ________ experience the strength of spirit that comes from living according to your Word.