We Must Honor God with Our Bodies
Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This confirms that the Holy Spirit lives in each one of us. It’s a joint cohabitation, a partnership with the Holy Spirit—with God. We are God’s temple.
In this way, we don’t belong to ourselves. We belong to God. As such, we must honor God—who lives in us—with our bodies.
This repeats what Paul had earlier taught that as God’s temple his Spirit dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). This time he gives a stern warning. He says if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. This is because God’s temple is sacred.
What must we do to honor our God with our bodies? What must we do to not destroy God’s temple?
Do What Is Right
As God’s temple, we want to honor him with our bodies. This starts with doing the right things. We shun evil and pursue godliness.
Our actions speak loudly about what we believe and who we serve. Would someone watching us know that we follow Jesus merely by seeing what we do? I
t’s a serious consideration that should impact every part of our lives and everything we do.
This becomes our most powerful witness for our Savior. It’s a strong testimony about what we believe. And we don’t even need to say a thing. Even so, we must next guard our words.
Watch What We Say
As being God’s temple and representing him, not only do our actions matter, so do our words. We must watch with care the things we say. This includes keeping a tight rein on our speech. If we don’t do that, what we believe means nothing (James 1:26).
We must guard our mouths and keep our tongues in check (Proverbs 21:23). We hold careless talk at bay. We even avoid idle thoughts, for what we think will eventually spew forth from our mouth; it’s inevitable.
Dress Appropriately
A third way we honor God’s temple with our bodies is by our attire. We don’t want what we wear to offend anyone. When this happens, it reflects badly on our God who we represent. Yes, what we wear is a witness just as much as what we do and what we say.
A good guideline to follow is to imagine ourselves standing face-to-face with Jesus. Would we be embarrassed by the clothes we had on? Would our dress honor him?
Put Good Things In
We take care of God’s temple by putting only good things into it.
This starts with what we eat and what we drink. Will what we ingest fuel our body or weaken it? Will what we consume cause us harm? If the answer is yes, we’re best to avoid it.
We must also take care of what our eyes see and our ears hear. These images and sounds also enter our bodies as God’s temple. What goes in will eventually come out in the form of our words and our actions.
Take Care of Our Bodies
Our final consideration in how we treat God’s temple is to take care of our bodies. He created our physical being, and we honor him by treating his creation with respect.
On a basic level, taking care of our bodies means getting enough rest. If we continually push ourselves too hard, it will eventually catch up with us.
For the short term, this means fatigue and decreased accomplishments. For the long-term, this could result in a shorter lifespan.
We also take care of our bodies by not persisting in dangerous activities or taking unnecessary risks. If we maim or kill ourselves, we most certainly damage God’s temple.
Respect God’s Temple
In doing these things, we take care of God’s temple; we honor him with our bodies. If we don’t follow these commonsense ideas, we desecrate God’s temple and dishonor him.
May we honor God with our bodies.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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