THE SIX BASIC ASPECTS OF A HUMAN LIFE NOW, when we take a closer look at the whole person, we find that there are six basic aspects in our lives as individual human beings—six things inseparable from every human life. These together and in interplay make up “human nature.” 1. Thought (images, concepts, judgments, inferences) 2. Feeling (sensation, emotion) 3. Choice (will, decision, character) 4. Body (action, interaction with the physical world) 5. Social context (personal and structural relations to others) 6. Soul (the factor that integrates all of the above to form one life) Simply put, every human being thinks (has a thought life), feels, chooses, interacts with his or her body and its social context, and (more or less) integrates all of the foregoing as parts of one life.

These are the essential factors in a human being, and nothing essential to human life falls outside of them. The ideal of the spiritual life in the Christian understanding is one where all of the essential parts of the human self are effectively organized around God, as they are restored and sustained by him. Spiritual formation in Christ is the process leading to that ideal end, and its result is love of God with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and of the neighbor as oneself. The human self is then fully integrated under God.

 Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ (pp. 30-31). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.


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