The Temple Within: You Belong to God
Scripture
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NLT)
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
Devotion
We moved from Hezekiah’s repaired temple to our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament makes this truth very personal: you are not your own. God bought you with the blood of Jesus. That means your body, your mind, your habits, your desires—they are His.
When we tolerate sin, casual compromise, or spiritual clutter in our lives, it’s like filling the temple with trash. Pornography, bitterness, secret habits, gossip, idolatry (anything that consistently pulls us from God), spiritual laziness, pride—all of these defile the temple.
Fasting and repentance are God’s way of “cleaning house.” Not because He wants to shame you, but because He wants to fill you—with His presence, His power, His peace. He doesn’t want you to be a storage room of the world’s garbage; He wants you to be a sanctuary of His Spirit.
Reflection
Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank You for choosing to dwell in me. Forgive me for treating my body and my life as if they are mine and not Yours. Reveal any area that dishonors You—whether in what I watch, what I say, what I do, or what I think. Give me the courage to repent and remove anything that defiles Your temple. I surrender myself to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NLT)
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
Devotion
We moved from Hezekiah’s repaired temple to our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament makes this truth very personal: you are not your own. God bought you with the blood of Jesus. That means your body, your mind, your habits, your desires—they are His.
When we tolerate sin, casual compromise, or spiritual clutter in our lives, it’s like filling the temple with trash. Pornography, bitterness, secret habits, gossip, idolatry (anything that consistently pulls us from God), spiritual laziness, pride—all of these defile the temple.
Fasting and repentance are God’s way of “cleaning house.” Not because He wants to shame you, but because He wants to fill you—with His presence, His power, His peace. He doesn’t want you to be a storage room of the world’s garbage; He wants you to be a sanctuary of His Spirit.
Reflection
- In what specific ways have you been living as if you “belong to yourself”?
- Are there habits, media, relationships, or secret sins that dishonor the temple of God in you?
- What “trash” needs to be cleaned out so the Holy Spirit has full access?
Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank You for choosing to dwell in me. Forgive me for treating my body and my life as if they are mine and not Yours. Reveal any area that dishonors You—whether in what I watch, what I say, what I do, or what I think. Give me the courage to repent and remove anything that defiles Your temple. I surrender myself to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.