Adam and Eve failed because they did not use their spirit. If Eve had turned to the spirit, there would have been no problem. Our husband is with our spirit. However, if we remain in our mind it means that we are assuming the headship, setting our mind to behave independently. This is awful and sinful. We must realize that our husband is with our spirit and exercise our spirit accordingly. Even when your temper is stirred within you, you need to turn to the spirit. Although you may say that it is difficult to turn in such a circumstance, I would reply that in such difficult times it is all the more necessary for us to turn to our spirit. Do not deal with your temper; turn yourself to the spirit. Learn to use your spirit. All Christians know how to pray and ask God to help them, but few of them know that they have a spirit to which they can turn. We do have such an organ, and it has a wonderful function. Since God is with our spirit, we need to turn to it. If we will learn to turn to our spirit and to exercise our spirit in every situation, the results will be marvelous.
How do you know when you are using your spirit? It is very easy. Whenever you do a certain thing or contact a person without being with God it proves that you are not using your spirit. Regardless of what you do, if you are independent of God and not contacting Him while you are doing it, it proves that you are not in the spirit. Be assured that in such a case you will suffer loss. We all must learn to contact God in everything. As long as we contact Him, we are in our spirit. As long as I walk, I am using my feet; as long as I see, I am using my eyes; and as long as I contact God, I am using my spirit, since my spirit is the organ by which I contact Him (John 4:24). If I see, it means that I am exercising my eyes. Likewise, if I am contacting God, I must be exercising my spirit. This is very precious in our daily walk, and we all must learn to practice it.
Thus, the first step in the process of man's fall was failing to use his spirit. Adam and Eve did not contact God in eating of the tree of knowledge, but instead paid attention to things other than God, not taking Him as the Head.
Although man did not use his spirit, he did exercise his soul, signifying that man, represented by the soul, assumed the headship. Many times people refuse to pray or exercise their spirit. Instead they think, consider, and study. They find it difficult to pray because their mind is too active, filled with many thoughts. They are unable to quiet their mind. All of us are familiar with this situation. Many Christian wives find it easy to talk. They talk to their husbands, friends, and relatives. However, if you ask them to pray, they find it difficult to do because their soul has been exercised so much. The best lesson for us all to learn is to be quiet in our thinking. If we are able to stop our thinking and turn to prayer, it proves that we are a person walking with the Lord and living in His presence. However, if you are a talkative person, so active and strong in your mind, it will be difficult for you to calm yourself for a few minutes of prayer. Such a person exercises his soul continually.
During the process of the fall Eve exercised her soul. As she spoke with the serpent her mind was reasoning (vv. 2-3). Then her emotion was pleased with the fruit of the tree of knowledge (v. 6). Eventually, her will made a decision, deciding to take the fruit and eat it (v. 6). Our experience is the same. As we are tempted by a particular matter, our mind reasons and considers, our emotion is aroused and comes to like the thing, and our will makes the decision. Our mind, emotion, and will are the parts of our soul. We should not trust any of these items. Do not trust your mind, emotion, or will, but turn your whole being to the spirit. As you are reasoning about matters, you must turn to your spirit.
We may use the example of shopping. As many brothers and sisters are shopping and see a particular item they want, they reason with themselves, saying, "I need this. It is on sale now and the price is quite low. This is my only opportunity to buy it at this price." The more they reason about the item, the more precious it becomes. We have all experienced this. Nevertheless, after we buy it and bring it home the thing soon loses its attraction and we repent. While you were reasoning, the little serpent was present, stirring up your emotion, strengthening your will, and saying, "Go and buy it." Whenever you are in this situation you must realize that you are repeating Eve's history. We should not laugh at Eve, for our own home is the garden of Eden and we ourselves at times are Eve. Many sisters are not Martha, Mary, or Ruth—they are Eve. Although some sisters may select the name Mary, it seems that no one chooses the name Eve. What was Mary's characteristic? It was that she was calm and quiet in the presence of the Lord, not reasoning excessively in her mind. We all must learn this basic lesson.