What
a glorious concept to consider that our human body is the temple of God's Holy
Spirit. God bought us with Jesus' blood so that He may abide within us, making
us a place of worship and adoration. God challenges us to glorify Him with our
body (1 Corinthians 6:10-20).
This
does not give us a license to act as God's policemen and run around attempting
to convict people to stop using their body for immoral and unhealthy practices
(1 Corinthians 9:27; Titus 1:5-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-13).
This
is simply a caution to judge our own behavior and to submit to the sanctifying
work of God's Spirit within us. God does not want to abide in a temple full of
the dirt and filth of this world.
God
always holds us accountable for our behavior (Hebrews 9:27); however, He gives
us His mercy and His Spirit who gives us a spiritual sweeper to remove the spider
webs of sin and the hairballs of unrighteousness, which contaminate our temple
(Romans 6:13, 12:1).
God
rested on the seventh day, and Jesus frequently spent time alone to commune
with our Father. If we push our body to use its reserve energy every day, we
harm our self now, shorten our life, and limit what we have the energy to do
for other people.
However,
as we yield our body, soul and spirit to the Trinity to use for the glory of
God and to further His Kingdom in the earth, we reap more blessings than we can
ever imagine. We care for our needs and the needs of others as we walk in the
Spirit all day long.
Self-care
gives us a deeper, truer, more intuitive relationship with our self as a child
of God. We minister to our self in the same way that we minister to others.
This is not anti-Biblical or selfish; it is healthy and nurturing.
We
genuinely care about our self, forgive our mistakes and negligence of our self,
as we submit to God's Spirit. He changes us from one stage of glorious freedom
in Christ to the next. We give God all the glory for who we are and what we are
becoming.
Prayer:
Father
God, teach us to draw aside from the hustle and bustle of life in order to
spend time alone with You. Then, we need to do something that will refresh our
soul, in order for us to have the energy to minister to others. Help us to
re-evaluate our life-choices and to live according to Your principles and
precepts.
Motivate
us to live only according to Your will for our life, and to make our habits
line up according to Your desires. Help us to live in the center of Your
perfect plans for each new day. We do not want sin or burnout out our soul,
which would prevent our usefulness for Your Kingdom.
Thought
for the Day:
God
calls us to walk on the narrow road that leads to life, and to use
self-discipline to enable us to enter the narrow door (Luke 13:24); Godliness
is of value to us in every way; but to destroy our body will bring nothing but
grief (1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
