Verse of the Day

19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

While reading these verses, I realize a few things. Our body's do not belong to us if we have truly surrendered our lives to living for Christ. We have Christ in us (the Holy Spirit), and therefore we are to treat our bodies as a temple. The price paid for us was something that I really will never be able to truly comprehend....the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for all of our sins.

How do we honor God with our body? The Bible is specific about a few things (sorry folks, there is no grey area in some things-the Bible is very specific). Below are a few ways that I feel we can honor God with our body:

1) Sexual purity-some of us know what we are missing if we abstain. However, the Bible is very specific in many areas regarding purity. We wait until we are married. Period. This is an area that is very hard to follow. Believe me, I know. However, we should all strive to do this, and not rely on our own strength when tempted, but call on Christ.
2) Eat healthy-we have Christ in us. We need to not only fill Spirit with reading the word and praying, but we should also make healthy eating choices when eating. It's o.k. to indulge occasionally, but in general we should really want to fill our "temple" with good things.
3) Eat in moderation-Americans eat way too much in general. Going out to eat can often times mean getting portions big enough for two, but the "clean your plate" mentality prompts us to finish everything. However, to go boxes are your friend. If you cannot take something to go, order smaller and lighter.
4) Alcohol-this is a touchy subject for a lot of Christians. Some denominations think it's wrong, other denominations think it's o.k. What the Bible says is do not be drunk with wine. It does not say do not drink wine, but do not be drunk with wine. In other words, when you lose control of your inhibitions (such as drinking a little too much), then it's wrong. A social drink (at least in my opinion) is o.k. Drugs-I really hope I don't have to say anything more other than wrong, wrong, wrong.
5) Exercise-get off the couch. T.V. is not your friend. Most of the shows are low in morality today, and I could not imagine sitting beside Jesus on the couch and saying, oooh, look, another underwear commercial. Well, Christ is in us (via the Holy Spirit), so what you see he sees. Exercise is great for you. No doctor will say "well, I think it's a bad idea if you try to exercise" (exceptions may be physical limitations). However, by exercising at least moderately, we are taking care of our "temple". There are some extremes, though. Exercise should not take priority over our relationship with God, though. That should always be number one in our lives.

There are more things I could write in regards to this subject, and who knows, maybe these verses will come up again someday on my blog. However, the bottom line is this-remember that we have been bought and paid for with a very dear price, and our lives (including what we do with our bodies) should honor that price.