January 20th
15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 NKJV
It’s helpful to review from time to time exactly why we are to live differently from the rest of the world. As Christians, everything that is done with our body impacts God…the things we look at, the things we listen to, the things we do and the things we think about. God’s Spirit resides in every follower of Jesus Christ (see verse19), and because of that, everything that we do, we do with God.
Paul illustrates this using prostitution as an example. The Christian who looks at porn is doing the same thing as the person visiting a prostitute. Through lust, he/she is uniting God’s Spirit with the object of the lust. This slaps God in the face, especially in light of the extremely high price (Christ’s death) that our forgiveness was purchased for. Such blatant dishonor grieves God’s Spirit.
Honoring God by what we do with our body is a form of spiritual worship (Romans 12:1-2). It shows God that we respect him and our bodies, which are made in his image. Our body is literally a temple of the Holy Spirit of God (see vs. 19 above). This temple is owned by God, and leased back to us for use to glorify God. If we use it to dishonor God sexually, it is sinning “against the body.” The consequences of sinning against one’s own body are not specified in this passage, but I believe they could include sickness, unbridled lust, missed opportunities to serve God and a chilling of our relationship with God.
“Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (verse 20). The benefits of honoring God with our bodies are awesome. They include the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which include love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV). I encourage you to believe that these fruits are desirable and worth the effort of resisting the temptations of sin.
Questions for further thought:
What is Paul’s command concerning sexual temptations? (18)
How is sex sin the same as defiling God’s temple for a Christian?
What are some additional benefits to living for God and honoring him with our bodies? (John 14:21,23)
Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for the special role that my body has in our relationship. Lord, I confess that I have used my body, your temple, for sin. Please forgive me and cleanse me from this sin. I rededicate my body to you today. Please help me to be careful to honor you by how I live and what I use my body for. Please grow in me the fruits of the Holy Spirit and manifest yourself in me. Thank you! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”