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          It is a psychological fact of life that each of us is not one person, but many.  Surely, we all recognize that truth about ourselves.  There is one part of us that is gentle and kind, another part that is mean and ill-tempered.  There is one part that is open and honest, another part that is deceitful and conniving.  We could multiply the examples endlessly, because every one of us is a bundle of mixed motives and conflicting emotions.

          The ancient psalmist recognized that reality.  So he decided to do something about it to take corrective action.  His proposed solution was to organize that motley mob into one choir that would sing the praises of God in perfect harmony.  Listen to him as he prayed: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all my being (everything that is in me), bless His holy name.”

          Concerning that objective, these questions come to mind.  Number one – is it possible?  And the most honest answer is, No, not entirely.  None of us ever will succeed in getting himself or herself completely together.  As long as we live in this world, we will always be a mixture of good and evil.  And yet, most of us could improve the performance.  We all could do better in the future than we have done in the past.  Remember: practice makes perfect.

          The second question is:  Is it desirable?  Some of us may be thinking – Who wants to become so religious that all he does is praise God with his entire being?  That conjures up images of the traditional concept of heaven, where all of its occupants do nothing but play harps and sing hymns.  I don’t know many people who have any desire to go to that kind of heaven.  But that isn’t what the psalmist had in mind.  He wasn’t talking about religion.  He was talking about spiritual unity.  He was tired of being torn apart on the inside.  He wanted to pull his life together and get it moving in one direction.

         The third question is – How is that achieved?  By what means does an individual become a whole-hearted, healthy-minded, unified personality?  I would like to offer two simple suggestions.

          First, remember that all our basic emotions, our inward desires were given to us by God.  They are essentially good, not evil.  Sin is the abuse and misuse of something that is basically good.  Ambition is essentially good.  It becomes sin, only when it is misused.  Sexual desire is basically good.  It becomes sin only when it is misused.  Our basic emotional desires are good.  We do not need to get rid of any of them.  All we need to do is learn how to use them in the right way.

The second suggestion is that we must recognize that we cannot accomplish that objective by willpower alone.  It would be dishonest and unfair to think that we can pull ourselves together by sheer will power.  The task is much more serious and difficult than that.  The only real solution is to put Jesus at the center of life, and then watch the pieces come together around Him.  Then, and only then, will we become whole-hearted, healthy minded, unified personalities.