Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

I Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)

…….your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.

Pause---really pause---and contemplate this great truth.  Repeat this truth several times in your mind, “My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. 


Think of the word “temple”; what is a temple biblically?  A temple is a sacred place.  There are many sacred places in Israel where the Lord lived and died.  Think of a place where you have been that naturally enables you to think of God, e.g. a view of the ocean, on top of a mountain, a flowing stream in the forest, a place where a beautiful sunrise or sunset is seen, even your garden or wherever you feel close to God.  Is there even “an altar” in your home where you can experience God more closely than anywhere else (or, if not, why not establish such a place?) 


Have you ever thought of your body as a sacred place?  Your body is the place within which the Holy Spirit from God lives if you have invited Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord (Ephesians 1:13).  It is through your body that the Holy Spirit works.  However, if you do not worship as you should, if you do not sing during worship or pray or read the Bible or serve others, or, worse, you commit habitual sins, while your body may still be a sacred place and houses the Holy Spirit, you are quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19 and Ephesians 4:30).

As you think through this truth, reflect also I Corinthians 3:16-17---“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, whose temple you are.”  Very serious words here, right?  I am not saying this, the Bible is.  The Bible says that God seriously cares about what you do with your body.  Natural laws from God exist that if you abuse or misuse your body, it can or will be destroyed.  The same is true with respect to spiritual laws, that if you continue to sin and ignore God’s Word, eventually you will be destroyed either within this world or the next.

The temple of the Holy Spirit is a body that is under complete control of God.  He has given you responsibility to rule over your thoughts, words, and actions.  How well are you doing with that responsibility?  You will make mistakes (sins), but who has predominant control over you---your own fleshly desires (e.g. lust, greed, pride, etc) or the Spirit of God?  Ask for forgiveness, repentance, and strength to live your life from now on with a clear attitude that your body is a sacred place for the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit.  The fruits from such a life will be extraordinary and eternal.