I used to find the word ‘soul’ irritating—mostly because it has been misused. Some describe the soul as one-third of an anthropological sandwich along with body and spirit. I was raised in a tradition that valued souls at all costs! We were trained to be soul-winners. Secretly, I wondered if the desire to save souls left people’s bodily reality unattended. “The word became flesh,” not soul, right?

John Ortberg’s volume on Soul Keeping is a wise corrective to these misuses of the term. Following Dallas Willard, Ortberg describes the soul as the “operating system of your life” (42). Imagine a series of concentric circles. The innermost circle is our will, surrounded by our mind, then body. Our souls encompass the whole.

Speak of Willard, this book is a tribute to the man who made a deep impact on Ortberg’s life. The book follows a narrative arc that begins with Ortberg’s first encounter with Willard and ends with Willard’s death in 2013. The book is saturated in Willard’s insight—and that’s a good thing.

The bulk of Soul Keeping consists of the sort of things a soul needs to remain healthy: a keeper, centre, future, rest, freedom, etc. These chapters are valuable, even if Ortberg’s biographical notes don’t always resonate.

Soul Keeping is a useful volume, especially for North American pastors caught up by the grind of ministry. Your soul is valuable—and requires care.

Ortberg, John. Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You. Zondervan, 2014.