A Christian's 30 Day Challenge To Deeper Living

Day 13: Your Body is a Temple

1 Corinthians 6:19- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Wow, this verse means so much.  It is one of my very favorites because of all the lessons you can glean from it.

Firstly, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!  There is so much that this means to us.  We should be watching our thoughts, the people we hang out with, the TV shows we watch, the books we read, and the music we listen to because every single thing we do leaves a mark on us, whether it is a good or bad impression is up to us.  This is so important because if we are a temple to the Holy Spirit, we should be clean and pure and not filled with the garbage of the world.

Secondly, if our body is a temple to the Holy Spirit, we should take care of it physically too.  This means not harming ourselves purposely and keeping a neat and clean appearance.  This is important because we are a vessel for the Lord. 

Plus, when we witness to people, they are going to respond much better to a person who looks like they take care of themselves over someone who is a total slob.  I’m not saying we have to be vain about our appearances, because we should not be vain, but we should take time for cleanliness.

And finally, we do not belong to ourselves.  That sounds confusing, but all it means is that our bodies were created by God and belong to God.  This is another reason for us to take care of ourselves.  We are borrowed property- God’s property. 

Whenever I borrow anything from a friend, I am super careful with it because I would feel awful if I returned it broken and beat up.  This is the same with our bodies, only so much more important because we are borrowing from God!  If I’m as careful as I am with my friend’s property, how much more careful I should be with my own body!  

I’m not saying we should never leave the house out of fear of getting hurt- that is not the purpose for us having bodies!  We are created so we can get out there and work hard, share the Gospel in our every breath, and rely on God’s strength to bring us home. 

I love the idea of my body being created by God and then loaned to me.  It really shows us how our spirit and our body are not one.  The real us is inside of our body, we just have a vessel that God made for us so we can move around. 

And for any of you out there who feel like your body is not pretty enough or there is something wrong with it, let me tell you, you are beautiful!  God only creates beautiful things so when He gave us our body, we started out perfectly beautiful.  Things can happen such as scars or lost limbs or anything else that could happen, but that only means that you've been using your body!  You are still beautiful because God made you!  Never let your body slow you down- it is just the vessel God gave you so you can get out in the world and share the Good News!

I hope you all have a blessed day!

Aly :)