Day Five
“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20
I have been a dancer since I was two years old, I knew when I was that young that one day I would be a dance teacher. I joined a performance team through all of my Middle School and High School years. We practiced every Saturday and took the required 3 classes a week. I was a good dancer… and I knew it. I began using my talent and body to get attention. Obviously, my relationship with God was not at a healthy point at that time in my life. It wasn’t until after High School that God clued me in to what I was doing. I started going to a very charismatic Foursquare church, most people would call it weird cause they did a lot of unusual things like speak in tongues, shake and fall on the ground. I know, definitely an acquired taste but I believe God lead me there to give my life the change that I so needed. The one thing that I loved about this church and the thing that God used to open my eyes, was that they danced. Dancing in the church? I have never heard of that! It was then that God gave me the realization that he created dance for worship, not for me to use to get attention. He also created my body to be his temple, not to use as I see fit. This spoke volumes to me because it also convicted me of my eating habits. I was using my body, God’s temple, as a dumping ground! I was horrified at this thought, I felt dirty and full of sin. That is when these words became my life verse. In context, it’s actually talking about sexual immorality, but it didn’t matter. I was not glorifying God with my body, I was defiling his temple. I have always thought that all sin is the same in God’s eyes; “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) Gossiping and coveting is just the same as slander and stealing, right? In today’s verse, though, it says; “Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.” This tells me that this sin is different. Back in the Old Testament days, God chose to dwell in temples. He was very specific about how it was to be set up and taken care of; you can read about that in Exodus 33-40. Our ancestors didn’t do a very good job of taking care of it back then either. After Jesus was sent to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins, God chose us to be his dwelling place. Not some building, he chose US! He dwells inside us and that is why when we sin against our bodies, it is different than any other type of sin. We wouldn’t walk into a church and dump all the garbage cans over onto the floor, would we? It’s no different when we feed our body trash and use our body for trash, we are trashing God’s temple!
I tell you this not to make you feel guilty for anything you’ve done, believe me, I’ve had my share of sin, too. I say this to encourage you with the fact that as you do this challenge, you are on a path that is glorifying God with your body. I love knowing that the things I’m feeding my body on this challenge are natural and clean and I’m getting closer and closer to the person God wants me to be. I’m glorifying God with my body, and so are you! Now, I don’t know what the rest of your lifestyle looks like but I pray that you would use this verse as a filter for anything you allow in your life. Are you doing anything with your body that would be considered trashing your temple? What are you watching? What are you listening to? Some people may say I’m just being legalistic and taking it too far. Maybe I am, but we were bought at a very high price. Jesus gave his life for our bodies; he chose to dwell within us. I think he deserves our very best and that means glorifying him with our bodies. So, as you go through this challenge, take pride in the fact that with each day you are moving closer and closer to the healthier, cleaner, restored you and that is glorify God with your body!
Today’s Exercise: Temple Stretching
Take some time today to stretch every part of your body. You can do this at the gym, in a class or just in your living room with or without a video to guide you. As you stretch, thank God for choosing you to be his dwelling place. Thank him for the body he created, every bone, joint, muscle and organ. Thank him as you feel every muscle and movement as they work together to stretch. Thank God for the detailed, amazing temple that he created you to be.