Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16
My Body is a Temple
Daily Devotion – June 1, 2018
Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 3:16
See series: Devotions
“My body is a temple.” Those could either be the prideful words of a fitness fanatic who is in shape and knows it… or a Christian. For some people, eating right, working out, and living a “healthy lifestyle” is a religion. They themselves become the idol. Their body is the temple. Their pride is their motivation.
Christians can say, “my body is a temple,” because they believe in the one true God. God’s temple used to be in a traveling tent in the desert wilderness. God’s temple used to be a magnificent stone edifice in Jerusalem. But since Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to his church on earth; God’s temple is in human hearts. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the hearts of people.
What kind of people does he choose to dwell in? Good people? People who chose to let him in? People who don’t resist him as badly? We might be tempted to think that there was at least something different, better, or “easier” about us that made the Holy Spirit want to live in us. But it isn’t true.
The Holy Spirit comes to hard-hearted, unwilling souls lost in unbelief and dead in sin—hearts that don’t deserve him and would never ask for him on their own. And yet the Holy Spirit never forces anyone. He gently, powerfully turns those unwilling hearts into willing hearts by his gracious gospel of forgiveness, then dwells in those willing hearts. Yours. Mine. Ours.
When you look at the members of the congregation you attend, give thanks for them. Pray for them. Practice love toward them. Forgive them as Christ forgave you. Live at peace with them. Serve in unity with them, as God’s temple, together.
When Christians say, “my body is a temple,” it’s the very opposite of pride and self-centeredness. They say it together: “WE are God’s temple. The Holy Spirit lives in me and in you… in US, through faith in Christ.”
Prayer:
Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for coming to this dark, dead soul and giving me life through the gospel of Christ. Thank you for graciously living in me and joining me to my fellow Christians. Let us serve together as your temple. Amen.
Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.
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