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| Do You Not Know That Your Body Is A Temple? |
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6:18 Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; 6:20 you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
These verses really hit home for me. I think of all the things I have done in my past, BBC...or Before Becoming a Christian, when the Holy Spirit was definitely NOT living in me, and my body was far from a temple. The depths to which we can fall when we are living life selfishly, not caring who or what we hurt, not caring that God is watching. Even though I proclaimed to be a Christian, I could not have known I was as far from it as I could get.
But once that bolt of lightening hit, once I accepted Jesus into my heart and the Holy Spirit into my soul, things changed. They had to. I could not continue to live the way I was and have Jesus in my heart. I have no desire to go back to that way of life. But I see many, many people who have accepted Jesus into their hearts, fall into sin again and again and again. And I am not talking a simple sin, like getting angry at someone, but I mean a big sin, like having an affair. Things that cause sin upon sin to be piled on top of each other. One lie leads to another and another and so on, until a person is so lost in their lies that they don't know what is real and what is truth.
So how is it possible, if the Holy Spirit is living in our bodies, and our bodies are a Temple belonging to God, that we can have Him living there, but also do terrible things like commit adultery, or take illegal drugs, or view pornography, or __________, (You fill in the blank). How can both good and evil exist in one body?
I guess it all comes down to choice. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us because we chose to let Him in. We can just as easily choose to shove Him out. We can just as easily turn our backs on Him and do as we please. We can make bad choices that hurt Him to the core. We can rationalize our wrongdoings until we actually believe what we are saying. We can make excuses for everything if that is what we want to do, to justify our actions.
We forget that by letting the Holy Spirit into our bodies, that we gave up ownership to our bodies. Our bodies now belong to God, and although He freed us from sin through His Son's death, we now are obligated to do His service. If we lived in a building that was owned by someone else, then we would try to abide by their rules. Just like that, since God owns our bodies now, we should abide by His rules.
Therefore, honor God with your body. That means each and every one of us. That means we have to live above and beyond who we used to be before we became a Christian. There should be no going back to old behaviors. No rationalizing of sins.
You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Live your life by living for God, and do your best to avoid going back to that place BBC(Before Becoming a Christian). |
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| These words do it for me - "You are not your own." Sounds strikingly similar to a conclusion I conveyed in one of my own blogs recently.... we're on the same page, Deb. LOVE IT!! |
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Deb |
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March 25, 2008 at 12:55pm |
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| Mike, Great minds think alike, or something like that! Thanks for reading, commenting, and for the star! |
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Cheryl |
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March 25, 2008 at 12:58pm |
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Wow, haven't put Mike's words in relation to this verse until now...that's awesome too! Love your blogs Deb....God is definately at work here!
BTW: Hope you had a great Easter!~ |
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Deb |
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March 25, 2008 at 1:05pm |
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| Cheryl, Thank you for your kind comments! And yes, I had a great Easter, but then, how can I not, when I know what happened on that day? It is what it is all about! Hope you had a great one too! |
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| Great one and have a Great Day God Bless,Bro. |
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Gene |
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March 25, 2008 at 3:58pm |
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| Deb, you are so right. And I think that our actions and attitudes are like billboards and neon signs on that temple. What message do they convey? Do we say that the temple is a place of peace or one or rage - one of comfort or confrontation? How many people want to visit a temple of the latter? |
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Joey |
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March 25, 2008 at 4:06pm |
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| I agree. Our body is a temple. I'm really feeling the effects of what I've done that sacred temple this last year. I have work to do, yes... much work to do. |
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KitKat |
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March 25, 2008 at 8:46pm |
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Wow - - we are on a thread together - - Temptation is a strong force, but Faith is stronger!
I referred to this same topic in a blog of my own. I love it when we get 'connected' as a body and think on the same vein of thought. |
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Ed |
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March 26, 2008 at 5:34am |
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Thanks Deb, for the reminder that our bodies are temples. I often forget that...not that I smoke, drink, or take drugs...it's where we take our bodies, how we show it to others and overwork it without rest.
You mentioned "simple" sins. I know that God looks at sin as sin, simple or not. In my mind anything that takes us away from God or His precepts is sin, whether it be anger/gossip or mass murder. One friend of mine says that this is soooo unfair. But truth be told, we are the ones that attach degrees of badness to sin. I guess we can look at it this way...ALL kinds of sin, whether simple or not, can keep us from a having a relationship with God and having an eternal home in heaven. Thank God for his faithfulness to us and the forgiveness that comes to us because of His love and grace. Good thing we can't earn God's grace ourselves!
One last thought, then I'm out of here. Last week I, too, wrote a blog about choices. You're right, that's what it's all about: choices. We have been given free will. God wants faithful people, not ones that jump on the popular bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. Faithfulness is determined by choosing to follow Christ. Success is not rewarded here, faithfulness is. Make the right choices! |
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Wonderful post. Needed the reminder. |
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Deb, Are you saying that Jesus as Lord is Lord ? even of our bodies ? Do you think it really matters whether we just keep on sinning, or not ? I think so !!
Thanks............................. |
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Deb |
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March 26, 2008 at 12:29pm |
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Doyle, thank you and blessings to you.
Gene, now you have me thinking in a whole new way...I hadn't considered our actions as being billboards or neon signs. I hope that people see "peace" when they look at me!
Joey, we all are a work in progress until Jesus comes!
KitKat, I took a look at your blog and it is really good! Thanks for sharing the link with me!
Ed, I almost added a side note to my blog above, saying that I realize that all sin is sin in God's eyes...but in man's eyes, there are differences in the levels of sin...some cause more hurt than others, some cause more hurt to ourselves...but you are right, all kinds of sin can interfere with our relationship with God. Loved your comments.
Cheryl, thank you.
Paul, oh yes, I definitely think it matters if we keep on sinning or not! There are things that we do that we do not even realize they are sins, perhaps after the fact we might realize it...we are not perfect, and we are human, but we can at least make the effort to not sin...however there are those that are Christians and keep right on sinning, making justifications for their sins...those are the things that are WRONG...Jesus is Lord of our bodies...shouldn't we show that to others? Thanks for your comments! |
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| So many times we know what we should do,but we do what we want.We quelch the Holy Spirit.We mess things up and wonder why we can't hear His voice.It's b/c we've ignored Him soo long,we've forgotten what teh Holy Spirits voice sounds like. |
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Deb |
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March 27, 2008 at 12:20pm |
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| racunpoodle, sometimes I wonder if some people have ever really listened to His voice? |
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| Deb,the scary thing is there are people who think that they have heard His voice,but they are so self decieved they cannot discern the Holy Spirits voice from there own voice or from Satan and his demons voices,but that's a different blog topic. |
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Deb |
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March 27, 2008 at 2:45pm |
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| racunpoodle, you are so right. Some think they hear the voice of the Holy Spirit when in reality it is their own voices, or satan's. We have to be very careful and listen closely, and also read the word...some of the things that people think that God has told them to do does not line up with Scripture, so how can it be right? |
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| It can't.That's why it is sooo important to stay in Gods word and to know why you believe what you believe.You have to check it out for yourself and not get it all second hand.I've fallen into that trap myself,not really getting into Gods word for myself,being spoon fed.Kinda hard to hear teh Holy Spirit talking to you if you don't take the iniativeto spend some time in teh word. |
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Deb |
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March 28, 2008 at 12:40pm |
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| racunpoodle, absoltely right! You have to take time to study His word. That is the best way to get to know all about Jesus and to hear Him speaking to you. |
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Hi Deb!
Once again I have enjoyed your writing. Not only enjoyed it, but learned and grew as a result of reading it. More fuel on the fire!
I honestly believe that most so-called Christians do not have a strong revelation of the love of God. The love of God will cause you to live holier accidentally than you ever did on purpose. It's not hard.
Why do so many struggle then? Because they have not renewed the spirit of their mind. My new favorite verse, or at least one that I have been meditating on for a few weeks:
Ephesians 4:23
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
I know that sometimes the grace message can be blown way out of proportion, but I firmly believe that it is the love of God that sets people free. The goodness of God is what leads people to repentance.
More revelation of God's love=less sin and not vica versa! |
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Deb |
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March 28, 2008 at 1:03pm |
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| Michael, so glad to have you back writing and commenting again! I would agree the love of God dos set people free. But so many just don't let that love in. BTW, the verse I have been contemplating this week is "resist the devil and he will flee from you". I am making that one of my new favorites. |
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