Your Body Is The Sanctuary Of God

...do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own(1Corinthians 6:19).

Many of us practice a level of cleanliness in our homes, offices and environment. We sweep compounds. We mop floors. We remove cobwebs etc. This is because that is where we live. And when we are receiving visitors many of us do a more thorough cleaning. Imagine the President of the land is paying you a visit in your home.

It is said that cleanliness is next to godliness. That is not entirely true, if not entirely false. There are countless number of people who observe marvellous standards of cleanliness and personal hygeine but are far from godliness. That said, if we are believers, we must indeed strive to live lives of excellence which might include personal hygiene and cleanliness of our environment. At least if the earth belongs to our God and all that dwell in it, we must be stewards of it.

When we were moving from our previous accommodation to where we currently live, the landlord came in to inspect the state of his facilities. He was grateful and thanked us for keeping his facilities clean and intact. He continued by saying "most tenants when they leave a facility leave it in a worse and deplorable state". When we first moved into that property, that was going to be our home for the period we will be living there so we kept it as we will keep our own property. How we keep that place gives an indication of the kind of people we are.

Now, God tells believers our body is His sanctuary. It is His temple. It is His dwelling place. When we become born again, when the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts and quickens our mortal body, He takes residence in us. What this means is that God owns us. We belong to Him. He has control over our body. The huge edifices, cathedrals and temples put up by "human hands" are not God's dwelling. Our body is through the Holy Spirit and the word.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.

If our body belongs to God and His Spirit dwells in us, then God calls us to holiness. He calls us cleanliness and purity. He commands us to stay away from desecrating that temple. If we will take pains to clean our homes and environment, then we must as a command make our body a worthy dwelling place for God. Not necessarily in personal hygiene(though it matters), but in sexual purity and holiness. Since our body is not ours but God's, He must be glorified in us.

...for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body(1Corinthians 6:20).