Can you feel that—the love in the air? It’s that time of year again when the infamous holiday specifically for lovers graces our calendars. Maybe you draw a bright red circle around the 14th of February in anticipation of a romantic date with your significant other. Perhaps your current relationship status looks more like a night in sweats with Rocky Road on the couch alone. Regardless of your present love situation, at some point in our adult lives, most of us find ourselves in pursuit of finding our true love—the one we call our soulmate.
A soulmate is one of those words that’s been romanticized, glamorized, and glorified. We wonder if that kind of mystical love is even remotely possible or if it is just reserved for a scene on the big screen.
Is it even conceivable? Could our souls find their match out of almost eight billion people on earth?
We see this seeming impossibility becoming a reality when we witness a married couple celebrating their golden anniversary. The aged bride and groom stare at each other in awe while cutting the cake the same way they did fifty years ago. Their matching love-struck grins caught in a time capsule of sorts. And that’s a beautiful thing. It gives us hope if anything ignites a tiny flame stoking the longing to experience a love like that.
How did they do it? How did they defy the odds with the current divorce rate in the United States close to fifty percent? Is it possible they found their soulmate—the only one that makes their soul stir?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a soulmate as a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs. I’ve heard soulmate described in many manners, but all descriptions revolve around two people with a strong likeness and attraction to each other. They share a deep spiritual connection—they are kindred spirits.
An article on Crosswalk explains the origin of soulmates: “The concept of soulmates stems from Greek Mythology and the famous philosopher Plato. In his writing, the Symposium, he taught that men and women were made in one body and were separated by the gods. The Greek myth defined humans as having two faces, four arms, and four legs and possessed incredible strength. But the Greek god Zeus feared humans had too much power and strength. He elected to slice every human being in half--thus sentencing us to roam the Earth our entire lives in search of our missing half--our soulmate.”
In the Symposium, Plato quotes the poet Aristophanes to explain the divine moment when two soulmates meet. “And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself … the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one will not be out of the other’s sight, as I may say, even for a moment.”
Doesn’t that sound fantastic? I mean, not the whole angry, jealous god who cuts us in half, but the reunion of a lifetime! Of course, I don’t believe in Greek mythology, but I find it makes some good bedtime stories for those with wild imaginations.
Does the Bible describe this phenomenon of catching the perfect fish from the sea? Is the term “soulmate” mentioned in the Bible?
Unfortunately, no. Like so many other terms, “soulmate” is not explicitly written anywhere in the sixty-six books of the canonized Bible. There is no instruction manual for finding the other half of our soul. But before you get your hopes up, remember, the Bible is undoubtedly all about love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8). The Bible is not only a love story written for you; it is comprised of many love stories that teach us extensively about marriage—what it should be and shouldn’t be. God’s goal is that romantic love, with all its potential pain and degradation, should be an arena of enjoyment for his redeemed people.
Perhaps the most notable book of the Bible that describes an intimate love and connection between two souls is the Song of Solomon. The Song of Solomon contains beautiful and sensuous poetry expressing the romantic love between a young shepherd and a young shepherdess in ancient Israel. The setting is a flowery and fruitful rural landscape, including a vineyard, and this is where the wedding takes place. It’s a beautiful read and gives you hope that it is possible to “find the one your soul loves” (Song of Solomon 3:1).
We witness the first betrothed couple literally handmade by God in Genesis 2:7 when God takes dust and breathes life into Adam. He wasn’t done because He knew the man would need a helper to stand beside him. So God used one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve and formed the perfect companion (Genesis 2:21-22). In essence, Eve was his other half.
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 23, ESV).
Some call Adam and Eve the first soulmates. After all, they were a perfect match created by the Master Matchmaker. An article in The New Yorker says, “In Michelangelo’s rendition, as in the Bible’s, the first man sleeps through the miraculous creation of his soul mate, the first woman and the eventual mother of humanity.”
I understand the realities of failed marriages in today’s age and the devastating impact these failures have on our families. My family is dotted with broken marriages, and I was raised by a single mom. But I want to encourage you to open your heart to Jesus and keep Him first. As a believer, you can experience the overwhelming and undeserved love of Jesus today, tomorrow, and forever. Whether you find true love on this side of eternity or not, we, as the Church, have plenty of reasons to celebrate! Christ will return to marry His bride (Revelation 19:6-10).
Creating a deep spiritual connection, friendship, and loving relationship with another soul is possible. And I pray that you experience this kind of marriage. I know this because God blessed me with this kind of marriage. It’s not always easy, and we are far from perfect, but “us” is always worth it at the end of every day.
I don’t share too many of my prayers because I’m a silent praying girl. But I love sharing the beautiful testimony of what Jesus has done in my life. On New Year’s Eve of 1999, I prayed to meet my soulmate soon. Yes, I used the exact word “soulmate.” Maybe I was just a hopeless romantic fueled by the hormones of a sixteen-year-old, but I longed to find someone who saw me and loved me for exactly who I was. That prayer must have called down heaven because I met my match that night. And twenty-three years, two sons, and lots of ups and downs later, we are still best friends, and he is the only one who stirs my soul.
Photo Credit: ©Benita Elizabeth Vivin/Unsplash