I hear a lot in society about “my body”. Whether that is in connection with the choice narrative, or the way we treat it. The thought is that I own it and therefor can do with it what I want. Well according to scripture, our body is not our own.
“19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
Paul reminds us that we are not our own. We have been purchased through the death of Christ as He took on our sin and paid the price so we did not have to. Since we were paid for by Christ, we are therefor His and should be devoting ourselves to Him through our bodies.
There are a lot of things that we do during the day that are not necessarily illegal and yet are sins. Mostly these are outward and do not negatively impact us or our bodies, with the exception of sexual immorality. This is a sin of the body and will impact the body, mind, and soul.
Now I am not going to get into a debate on what is considered sexually immoral as that is defined in God’s Word, but I will say that once it starts, it is hard to stop. The endorphin release in the moment is something that not only affects the body, but the mind and soul as well. Once experienced, it is something that is hard to walk away from. And, as such, it will tend to consume you as you are in a constant search for more of the same.
On top of this addiction, there is the defilement of something that does not belong to you. As our bodies have been paid for by God, it belongs to Him as the temple for Him to dwell. I know that we have taught our boys that they should take extra care for other people’s things and ensure that we leave them better than when we were introduced to them. The consuming nature of the sexual immorality addiction does not give us the sense of caring for the body, we are driven to use it all up as we chase the addiction.
I have to remember that my body is not my own and that I should be working to build it up as opposed to using it up. I have to allow my body to be the temple of the LORD and give Him every opportunity to dwell here in His temple and work in my life. My body is for the LORD and His work.
“13’Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:13 (ESV)
What are your thoughts on your body? Are you progressing through life as though the body you have is yours for your pleasure? What if you devoted your body to Christ as it was intended and allowed Him to dwell there and use for His work?
Trevor's Thoughts 