1 Corinthians 6:13-17
13 Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, The two will become one flesh. 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Sometimes we mistakenly think that our physical bodies are separate from our spiritual life, that God cares about what we believe but not about what we do with our bodies. But there is no such dichotomy in God's eyes. Verse 13 reminds us that "the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord". God wants to have control of our bodies. Furthermore, what we do with our bodies has spiritual repercussions. As verse 16 says, "he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her". But "he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (verse 17). We need to choose to join our bodies and spirit to God. Later in verse 19 it says that our bodies are the temple where the Holy Spirit resides, so it makes sense that what we do to the temple will affect the spirit inside.
Lord, forgive me for compartmentalizing my body from my spirit. I want to serve you with my spirit and my body.
13 Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, The two will become one flesh. 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Sometimes we mistakenly think that our physical bodies are separate from our spiritual life, that God cares about what we believe but not about what we do with our bodies. But there is no such dichotomy in God's eyes. Verse 13 reminds us that "the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord". God wants to have control of our bodies. Furthermore, what we do with our bodies has spiritual repercussions. As verse 16 says, "he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her". But "he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (verse 17). We need to choose to join our bodies and spirit to God. Later in verse 19 it says that our bodies are the temple where the Holy Spirit resides, so it makes sense that what we do to the temple will affect the spirit inside.
Lord, forgive me for compartmentalizing my body from my spirit. I want to serve you with my spirit and my body.