Scripture Insight: 2 Nephi 4: 27-28

2 Nephi 4:27-28
27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

Discussion
I originally came across verse 28 and was intrigued by the phrase "no longer droop in sin." The initial thought was the fact that sin does bring us down, makes us feel lower and less of a person. Too often it seems that we develop a negative life view because of our sins and it creates this downward spiral that can lead to more sin and more feelings of sadness and "drooping."

It doesn't have to be that way of course. It's not what Heavenly Father wants for us. The only lowliness he wants for us is lowliness of heart because that leads to repentance. The first part of 28 is key here: Awake, my soul! Sometimes we need that jump start to our motivation to begin that process of seeking forgiveness and working ourselves back up that downward spiral we slid down.

What was really interesting to me though was looking back over verse 27. The first line refers to yielding to sin because of the flesh. Now we all know that there is a duality of man with his spirit and body. In order to truly progress in life, we have to subject the natural man (aka "flesh") so the spirit is in control. It's way we fast so we can learn to rely on that spirit.

Knowing that about sin and the "flesh," we can understand verse 28 better. Again, the first line there is "awake, my soul!" He said soul. Not spirit. Not Flesh. Soul. Which is the spirit and the body (flesh). The sentence is also written as a command and given that the next line is too, one can assume that he is also referring to the soul when he says "no longer droop."

So what I find interesting about this is that as we struggle with things of the flesh, it brings our soul down (drooping) which by the nature of cause and effect, means our spirits are being brought down too. This reinforces the notion that we are limited in our spiritual abilities as we sin and procrastinate our repentance.