Hey, I'm Judah.

And I'm so excited to share this journey with you

about the soul.

NARRATOR: When New York Times bestselling author Judah

Smith started texting his friends, how's your soul,

he was interested in more than what was on the surface.

It seems like an odd question to ask,

but Judah says it's vital to look

at what's going on inside of us and others

to check on the emotional roller coasters of our lives.

In his book, "How's Your Soul?", Judah

explores what a healthy soul looks like and shares

how to cultivate peace and calm in a fast, furious world

of chaos.

Please welcome to the show Pastor Judah Smith.

It's great to have you here.

Thanks for having me.

It is a fast, crazy world of chaos.

And you have found some answers to anchoring ourselves, right

in the midst of that.

You also have had a friendship with somebody that's

very visible to people in the entertainment world, but thus

to all of us, and that's Justin Bieber.

And I'm wondering, how do you help somebody

like that, who I think my world is crazy in my little postage

stamp, but someone so visible, so judged by other people,

how do you speak into his life?

I think a lot of people are surprised to discover

that those in the limelight, those

with enormous expectations from millions,

and maybe even billions of people,

that they desire the same things we all desire.

It might be magnified because of their platform.

But there are some essentials that we all need.

Essentials even for our soul, such as relationship

and true connection and having margin and rest in their life.

And Justin and I would talk almost every day.

And to hear him process his own journey

has caused me to do some soul searching

and probably learned a lot about my own experience.

It's great to know that somebody

can stand in the midst of that kind of pressure

and visibility and soul search.

And that brings me to your book.

How's your soul?

I mean, that's a very heavy question.

What do you actually mean when you use the term soul?

I think in the Hebrew Bible, we

see that heart and mind and spirit and soul

seem to be synonyms.

And it seems to describe all that is within us.

And of course, scripture, the overwhelming emphasis

of scripture is on the inside, not the outside.

And yet, culture and life and mirrors, it's so easy,

and Instagram and selfies, to focus on your outside.

But here we read this beautiful love story, the scriptures,

and it teaches us to be good stewards of our inside.

And are we doing that and are we surrounded with people

who are committed to challenge each other to truly grow

on the inside?

So what does that look like, when you take that quiet time

and you stand back and you actually just go in there,

how does one begin to heal, repair, build one's

soul to a place of healthiness?

I think a lot of us are living internally nomadic.

I think we have homes and townhomes and condos,

but I wonder if we've come home in our soul.

And that brings me back to the ancient Hebrew mind,

I saw the breath of God and the soul as one and the same.

It was said in ancient history that the Hebrews believed

that the single most significant characteristic

of the human soul was the breath of God.

And that beckons back to the beginning of time,

when Adam was this lifeless shell, until the breath of God

was breathed into his body and he became a living being.

And so I think when you take your borrowed breath

and you form it into prayer or praise,

it's as if your soul is coming home.

How do you anchor your soul in the craziness of the world

that we live in?

I think it goes right back to what I just said.

Articulating.

If we've learned anything from King David

in the book of Psalms, is this man

is so gritty and so honest and transparent with his prayers

to God, and even his complaints to God.

And I would challenge anyone watching today, you know,

God already knows what's in your heart.

And there's power when we use that borrowed

breath to articulate it to him.

And I think it reminds us that He's sovereign, He's God,

He's in control.

And He's really good at that.

It's hard sometimes to be really good at that on our end,

because there's so much that lends itself to the trivial,

to the shallow.

Even the social media that we engage

in, it's easy to say things that you wouldn't say

face to face to someone, because you're not

looking them in the face.

And it's easy to just exchange thought, but not heart.

And I believe with all of my heart

that we have got to question some of our habits, all of us

do, don't we, and question, hey, is this really healthy?

All the inundation of media and social media,

do we have margin?

Are we exercising self-control?

And then of course, connecting with someone

really doesn't happen much over Twitter or over Instagram.

But are we having one-on-one conversation?

And I find myself even in my own life,

I'm out on a date with my wife, it's embarrassing to admit,

and here I am, checking social media.

And she reminds me all the time, it's not OK.

We're here.

And having people in your world who

will challenge you on that and say, hey, let's engage more.

And of course, this book is really just a conversation

starter, not really over text or social media, but one on one

with the people that are close to you.

A thought provoker, really, for us to all

do what you're talking about doing.

And there's some discipline involved in that, isn't there?

There absolutely is.

And I think it's going to take some vulnerability for us

to sit with those in our world and say, OK, am I OK?

How do you see my lifestyle?

And more importantly, do you believe

my mind, my will, my emotions?

Am I healthy?

Chels and I, my wife of 17 years, we have a once a month

check up, where we go out and just kind of ask each other

the hard questions about our soul.

I believe if we're intentional, the Holy Spirit will help us.

We can have that buoyant spirit and soul that I truly

believe He designed us for.

And we can communicate without rancor or bitterness or anger,

which would be so refreshing.

So refreshing.

Wow.

Wow.

Especially on the heels of this moment that we are in.

So I just want to say, this is a book well worth reading.

And Judah, thank you for writing it.

Thank you for being with us today.

"How's Your Soul" is a book, you can pick it up nationwide,

wherever books are sold.

It's a question worth answering in your own heart and mind.

We're giving away a copy.

If you'd like to enter that, go to our Facebook page

and comment below our Judah Smith book giveaway post.

We're going to select one random viewer by Friday this week,

and we'll get the book out to you.

So go there now.