1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not realize that your body by design is the sacred shrine of the spirit of God; he echoed God within you. Your body does not even belong to you in the first place! (TMB)

What kind of temple are you asking God to dwell in?

Do you think about this scripture from time to time? Often, it is used to discourage what ministry leaders and religious leaders consider as the “major” sins: adultery, smoking, fornicating, drinking; you know the list. Please know this: there are no top sins that contaminate the body. All sin contaminates the body. This body is not your own, it belongs to God. When you accepted His invitation, you allowed Him to come and dwell within you. 

Romans 8:10-11 If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides]. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. (AMP)

You are no longer just His creation, now you are His place of residence. This is not your body, alone. You should not take it anywhere and everywhere. You should not do anything and everything with it, nor to it. You should honor it as the home of God. This is a test you get to pass every day. The goal here is to treat your body as God’s temple. You may have, up to now, rationalized and reasoned a way to continue to live your life the way you have been. Please ask God to show you those things that you need to allow Him to fix. 

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you understand that together you form a temple to the living God and His Spirit lives among you? To determine if you are treating it in the way it should be treated; listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. (TVT)

Not only do you want your body to be the place where God dwells, you also want Him to take pleasure in dwelling there. As you read the Old Testament (Exodus 25–31), you see how God designed and crafted the Temple. You could spend a wonderful time of study  and get revelation to better understand the function of the temple and the intricacy of its design. Then you could make the correlation between the physical temple and your body. This will help make God feel welcome. 

Please agree with me as I pray. Then ask the Lord what your prayer should be and wait for His response:

Father, thank You for reminding me my body is not mine to do with as I will. I know I don’t always treat it in a way that pleases You. I repent for doing the wrong things with it, for it, and to it. I also repent for using it to take You places I know You didn’t want to be. I do desire for You to enjoy dwelling within me. I ask You, Father, to continue to show me those things You need to fix and those things You need to change. I want You to take joy in dwelling in this earthen vessel. I only want to take Your temple to places it needs to be where You can be at peace. I want the things I do with it and to it to bring You glory and honor. As You search my heart and my life, show me what celebrates You and what does not. Continue to help me create a place where You can make Your Abode…

Ask the lord what he wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal it here: