My body is the temple of God

John 2:19-21

"Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' They said to him, 'It took 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days!' But when Jesus spoke of the temple, he was speaking of his body.

Rereading this passage, I realized that I always skim it quickly, thinking I understand its depth. In reality, I didn't understand how important this passage is to us.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit being part of the Trinity, which is to say that our bodies are the temple of the Holy God. When we defile our bodies through sin or negligence, we defile the temple of God. It is written in 1 Corinthians 6:19 "You know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, and God has given him to you; you are not your own." Ephesians 1:17 "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,"

By accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord through the new birth (the baptism of water and the Spirit: John 3:5), our bodies are dedicated to the work of God. Therefore, our temples, including our bodies, must be holy to have the presence of God. When we are holy, the Spirit of God dwells in us, Jesus Christ takes the place in our hearts and we are filled with the Trinity. We are in perfect communion with Jesus Christ, so we can hear the voice of God and walk according to his instructions to avoid the traps that our enemies set for us or to simply live happily on this earth that is drifting. We no longer need men to guide us, or teach us the Word if God Himself speaks to us. It is written in Ephesians 3:17

"Let Christ dwell in your hearts through faith! Sink your roots in love and be firmly built on this love."

We must guard our hearts against all evil desires, for it is from the heart that sin is born. This is confirmed in Matthew 15:18-19.

"But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. This is what makes a person impure. Indeed, evil thoughts come from the heart. Then people kill others, they commit adultery, they live immorally, they steal. They lie in court and they speak evil of others."

We must be able to restrain our words, because it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him unclean. When we are angry, when we want to speak evil, when we want to corrupt spirits, etc. Let us restrain our lips and repent of our attitude before God, because "Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, it must not be so." (James 3:10)

Let our feet not follow men, for being born again and consecrated to God, we must walk as God wants. We must go where He calls us to go and not where our desires or men want to lead us. It is written in Proverbs 1:16.

"Indeed, they run to do harm, they are in a hurry to kill."

Let us be eager to do God's work, not the devil's. Let our feet guide us on the path that leads to eternal life.

When we sin, the Spirit of God departs from us, our bodies become nothing more than empty shells and we destroy our own temples. When we indulge in lying, adultery (physical or in thought), when we indulge in masturbation, theft, murder, jealousy, slander, etc. We are no longer holy and born again beings, we are just sinners with both feet in hell.

“Put away sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your body, for youth and youth are vanished.” (Ecclesiastes 11:10)

Above, we also talked about neglecting our bodies. It is written, "Instead, I discipline my body and discipline it, lest after preaching to others I myself be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:27.

Let us take care of our bodies, of what we eat, let us make sure to do physical exercise, let us not do it for ourselves, but for the glory of God in order to preach the word of God without suffering in our flesh by illness or fatigue. God took care to specify to us in Genesis and in Leviticus, what we must eat. So how can we work for God if our bodies do not allow us to do so?

Let us take care of ourselves and make our bodies the temple chosen by God himself for his glory.

Jesus Christ rebuilt his Father's temple in three days by dying on the cross and rising again. We do not wait an eternity to make our bodies the temple of the Lord in order to honor him in every way and to be guided by the voice of God through his Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

Let us turn away from sin and pursue holiness, so that we may be lights in the world, just as our Master and Savior Jesus Christ was the light sent into the world to enlighten those who were living in wickedness, perdition, and condemnation (John 1:4-5).

Be blessed in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen!