Therefore, brothers, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.     Romans 12:1-2

Jesus died for our sins. At 33 years old, He gave His life for us.  Are we willing to sacrifice our bodies for him? I’m not talking about being crucified or killed and burned on the altar. I’m talking about living for God. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in us and whom we have from God. We are not our own because we were bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in our bodies. But what does that really mean?

It means we must understand we are the church. Our bodies are God’s sanctuary and should be treated with reverence and respect. We wouldn’t go into a church sanctuary and trash it, but often times we have no problem trashing our own bodies. We treat our bodies with disrespect.

We trash our minds when we watch things that go against God’s holy word. Or, when we listen to things that go against God’s holy word. This doesn’t just mean pornography or dirty jokes. We are now seeing these things in Disney cartoons aimed at children. Pay careful attention to the movies your kids watch. We are seeing things like homosexuality and transgender issues portrayed in these movies aimed at very young audiences. They are coming after your children.

We destroy our witness with our mouths. When we gossip, grumble, complain and slander others we use our mouths in ways that do not please God. Our mouths are to be used to spread the gospel. We are told in Ephesians 4:29 no foul language is to come from our mouths but only what is good for building up someone in need, so it gives grace to those who hear. Is your mouth spewing grace or hatred? We are called to go out and make disciples. We can’t do that with foul talk, gossip and slander. Think about it.

We must also consider what goes into our mouths. I’m not only referring to alcohol or drugs, but I’m also referring to overeating. I’m stepping on my own toes here. I know I need to get better in this area. You wouldn’t toss your filled garbage bags into the church sanctuary, would you? But we put garbage in our mouths when we eat things that are not good for us especially large amounts of things that are not good for us. We compound the problem by not getting enough exercise.

The Bible tells us what we think can also be a problem. We are told in 1 John 3:15 that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and murderers do not have eternal life. You don’t have to literally kill someone you just have to have hatred and bitterness in your heart.

Sexual sin or adultery is defined as any sexual relationship between anyone other than one man and one woman in the confines of marriage. With that being said, Matthew 5:27-30 tells us if we look upon someone with lust, we have committed adultery. Our eyes can get us into trouble.

If we can just remember that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, I would hope we would treat it better. Keep that in mind as you go through the day. Have reverence for God’s sanctuary.

Have a great day!