What Is A Soul Tie?

Have you ever felt as though for one reason or another, you can’t move on from a certain relationship or can’t move forward in your relationship with God?

Perhaps the reason could be these “invisible chains” that hold you to a particular person or event. Although they are not demonic spirits, in essence, these “chains” are referred to as soul ties.

If you know very little about the subject or doubt its validity, I want to share a few Scriptures that back up this belief.

Biblical Types of Soul Ties

Parent to Child

“Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. Genesis 44:30-31

One of the sons of Jacob is saying to Joseph (In Egypt) that Jacob’s life, his soul, is bound up to the life of Benjamin. Jacob has this soul tie to his son for reasons the Bible makes unclear.

Friendship

Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 1 Samuel 18:1

David’s soul, emotions, and inner being were chained together with the soul of Jonathan.

This is one of the main verses that help create imagery for what a soul tie creates. It is when your soul becomes intertwined together with the soul of another person.

Leadership

So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 20:2 (KJV)

The word clave hears means to get attached to or to closely follow. These men became infused to David. The rest of the Israelites walked away from David but the connection these men had to David prevented them from doing the same.

You should also read 1 Chronicles 12:17 to see another clear example of this.

Opposite Sex

His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. Genesis 34:3

Shechem was strongly attached to the daughter of Jacob, Dinah. It’s interesting that it followed the footsteps of him raping her.

The physical connection caused a deep attraction and a strong, unhealthy attachment that knit their souls together.

This type of soul tie develops when people have sex. Other times, they can develop as a result of an obsession with a particular person.

Spouse

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

God uses the act of intimacy to cause the knitting of two souls in marriage so they can serve God as one.

Fellow Believers

That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, Colossians 2:2

We are knit together with other believers, not in domination but in love. As members of the body of Christ, we are to be united as one in Him.

What God Desires

God is in the business of restoring your soul.

Perhaps certain parts of your soul are stuck somewhere else either in previous relationships or in negative episodes of your life. Perhaps you are repeating cycles or memories of past failures or trying seasons.

Whatever the case may be, the Lord wants to restore your soul.

The Bible makes it clear that God wants us to worship God with all of our soul (Mark 12:30-31). This means that He doesn’t want us to give fragments of our soul to an abusive relationship. And He doesn’t want people to have hooks to portions of our soul causing them to hold us back.

God wants us to worship him with all of our soul – not 10%. All of our spirit, mind, emotions, are to be for Him alone.

Read: Inner Healing and Deliverance

Final Thoughts

The Bible says in Psalms 23:3, “He restores my soul.”

Perhaps as you read this, you are realizing or remembering scenes in your life where a soul tie could have formed. Maybe your soul got broken down as you went through abusive relationships, or connected on some level to controlling or harmful situations.

I want to encourage you to bring those memories and those fragments to God in prayer. Allow Him to restore the hurting and broken pieces of your soul for His glory.

Remember that there are both good and bad soul ties that can be formed in our life. Make sure the ties you have are godly, otherwise the enemy will have hooks in your life that’ll prevent you from moving forward in Christ.