Your Body is God's Temple

Where does God live? Does He live in heaven, or does He live in all the earth? According to 1 Corithinans 6: 13, God lives inside of us too! You see, He has His throne in heaven (Psalm 11:4), and Earth is His footstool (Isaiah 66:1), but He also has a place within our hearts (Ephesians 4: 6). He is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere; therefore, He is in heaven, on earth, and in our hearts all at the same time! All true Believers, who have dedicated their lives to the service of God, have the presence of God within. When He lives within us, our bodies become His temple, and a place in which to serve Him. Yes, our bodies belong to Him, because He has created it; but when we accept Him into our hearts, we become His temple. That is why then, as His followers, we are careful about the way we treat and use our bodies. We treat our bodies with respect, appreciation, and care, because it is God's temple.

God's temple is holy, therefore our body temples are holy (1 Corinthians 3: 17). We refrain from using our bodies for purposes that are displeasing to God, because it is holy. Any sinful act, and any act which is a defilement to the body we try to avoid, in order to keep our body temples pure and holy. Sickness and disease, especially infectious diseases, are all defilements to the purity, strength, and physical health of our body temples. They weaken our body temples, and decrease its usefulness and ability to function normally. Sexual immorality, which is a spiritual defilement of our body temple, puts us at risk for both physical and emotional defilement, that cause disease and emotional instability respectively. Sexual immorality, which is sex that confers intimacy upon someone who is not entitled to this privilege, is the cause of many broken hearts, nervous breakdowns, unwanted pregnancies, broken homes, financial hardships, dead beat parents, unwanted children, dyfunctional families, and sexual diseases. Using a person merely as an object of sex to satisfy an urge, instead of as a beneficiary of love, reduces the value of that person as a whole person. Sexual love that is accompanied by true love, respect, admiration, commitment, and care for the other person is what God desires for each of us. Our body temples are portals to intimacy, but this intimacy is sacred. It is meant to be shared within the bonds of married love, exclusive of all others.

Persons who have not invited God within, to live inside, may not understand the concept of a body temple. As a matter of fact, although their bodies belong to God because He is their Creator, their bodies are not His temple because they do not belong to Him in a spiritual way. When the temptation to be sexually immoral presents itself to them, they may find it hard to resist, as they do not have the benefit of God's power residing in them to give them victory over sexual sins. They give in to temptation, and may end up regretting the choices made. Those of us who have made our bodies God's temple, are also tempted too, but the God within gives us the power to resist, and to turn away from temptation. If however, we do falter, the God within gives us the courage to face our mistakes, and bring us into true repentance. He is ever willing to forgive, as long as we are honest with Him. Let us therefore give our lives and bodies over to the will of God, so that we can avoid the deception of sexual immorality, and turn to the living God, the One who has created true intimacy, for us all to enjoy.