Taking Care Of Your Body: The Holy Spirit's Temple

In the inaugural Fit For Jesus website blog post, I mentioned the following scripture:


“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” ~ 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

This scripture is only the beginning, but what a clear beginning it is! Our body is the literal, physical temple of the Holy Spirit. By taking care of our bodies, we are taking care of our righteous Holy Spirit’s temple. Our bodies are a gift from the Lord, and we should all, in a simple act of gratitude and love, honor Him with our body and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Is taking care of His temple a requirement? Technically, no. Salvation through Jesus Christ is a gift of God’s abundant and perfect grace. Our salvation does not depend on our actions, but don’t you, out of love and appreciation, want to give something back to our gracious Heavenly Father, who gave His Son for us?

(In future articles, we will get into a lot of detail about how, while our actions here on earth have nothing to do with “deserving” salvation, our actions here on earth - including your levels of health and fitness - potentially have much to do with our eternal heavenly rewards!)

Here is another passage from the Bible:

"Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body." ~ John 2: 19-21

Jesus states that His body is a temple. I know when I first came across this passage, my gut response was, “Yeah, but that is Jesus. I can’t compare myself to Him and call my body a temple!”

It almost seems uncomfortable to compare ourselves to Jesus Christ, doesn’t it? Yet, in the Bible, it clearly states that we are “made new in Christ”, and through the Holy Spirit “conformed to the likeness of His Son.” Yes, we are conformed into the spiritual likeness of His character and His righteousness and holiness, but Jesus was also very human.

Jesus was all too clear: His human body was a temple!

"In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." ~ Ephesians 2:21-22

This passage from Ephesians really delivers the point, doesn’t it? We are, both individually and collectively, becoming a “dwelling in which GOD lives by His Spirit!”.

I think we can all agree that the Bible is conclusive: our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the days of the Old Testament, a tremendous amount of resources, including time, talent, attention, and money were devoted to the building of God’s temple, based on very clear instructions from God. The temple of the Holy Spirit - our body - should be no different!

Pray today for the Lord’s strength to help you build a temple worthy of His Holy Spirit. Ask for strength to choose the right foods, the desire {and time |}}}to plan your meals, and increased commitment to create time to exercise. Start with God's clear scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you in more detail about His desire for you!

By: Alissa Nelms

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Jeremy Nelms is the leader of Fit For Jesus! The world's largest Christian fitness website FitForJesus.com brings together people from around the world to support each other, lose weight and get healthy at www.FitForJesus.com. With a rapidly growing Christian social network, you can receive nutrition tips, exercise techniques, recipes, and massive amounts of support. Learn more about taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit at Fit For Jesus!