We may understand intellectually, through God’s Word, that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But do we take care of our body in a way that is fitting and right as a holy and consecrated temple for the Spirit of God to dwell in?
The more you hold onto your rights over yourself, the more you violate His rights over you. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV).
Your body is only the temple of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you. Until then, you will live your life as if your body belongs to yourself because it has not yet been surrendered to God. Child of God, if you’re saved, you’re His.
It’s one thing to be saved by God, and another to be filled with God. The one gets you into heaven, the other gets heaven into you. “…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 NKJV).
When we hear that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we must realize that the temple extends beyond the one portion of our being, our tent, our physical body. The temple is also our soul (our thoughts and emotions) and our inner spirit. It’s all of who we are.
His peace is not in circumstances, but is the Holy Spirit in you. The LORD God said, “…I will fill this temple with glory…The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…And in this place I will give peace…” (Haggai 2:7,9 NKJV). “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV). Be the temple.
The way in which we either please the Holy Spirit or grieve the Holy Spirit is in how well we take care of His temple. This goes infinitely beyond physical care, the way we look, and instead burrows deep down inside of us, in the inner secret chambers of our heart.
You can either grieve the Holy Spirit or please the Holy Spirit, but there is no in between. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin]” (Ephesians 4:30 AMP).
Every sin in our lives is a stain on the walls of the temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. We can confess our sin and be made clean again, but it is what we do after that which will determine the condition of the temple we are to take care of.
I think the test of our faith is not where we go on Sunday morning, but who we are on Monday morning. Be the Church. “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the [Holy] Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you” (Romans 8:9 NLT).
The temple may have our flesh as the outer layer of the dwelling place, but it is our thoughts and attitude that the inner chambers are lined with. How attractive or strong your physical body is not what matters, but how consecrated your thoughts are towards God.
God isn’t looking to see how holy you can make yourself, but how much you’ll let the Holy Spirit change you. “Let the [Holy] Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (Ephesians 4:23 NLT).
If you want to have a greater filling of the Holy Spirit, then you need to clear out everything that doesn’t belong in His temple. The more you empty yourself, the more He can fill you. Less of you results in more of Him. Selfless is less of self.
When the temple is made ready, it will be filled with the presence of the Lord. Remove what does not belong, so that there would be room for all that does. “The priests went into the sanctuary of the Temple of the LORD to cleanse it, and they took out to the Temple courtyard all the defiled things they found” (2 Chronicles 29:16 NLT). Your body, your heart, your thought life – these are the temple of the Lord. Cleanse yourself so that His glory would fill you. “The glory of the LORD filled the temple” (2 Chronicles 7:1 NKJV). You cannot do, but Christ in you.
Whatever you put into the temple, you either bless the temple or you defile it. In whatever way you are defiling the temple today, ask the Lord to help you to be changed. When we pray to have a holy temple for Him, we are praying in His will.
You search for something hidden, and it is in you all along. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV). God is in you; walk in that truth. Your life will never be the same because it is His life in you.
Don’t regret the mistakes you have made, but be determined in your will to let God change you. You don’t need to be stronger; you need to be weaker before Him, and then He will help you. God helps those who let Him.
We’re not meant to only be filled with the Holy Spirit; we’re meant to be changed by the Holy Spirit. “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.” (Ephesians 4:23-24 CEV).
To take care of the temple requires that you take care of every aspect of that temple. This includes your physical body, your spiritual life, your soul life (thoughts, emotions, mental state), and your relationships with others, especially with God.
You can be holy. You can be set free from anything that makes you unholy. Every fiber in your flesh will tell you otherwise. Don’t listen to your flesh. “…God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV). Be holy.
If you want to grow spiritually, it will be in the cleansing of the temple that you will do so. When the temple is right, the Spirit of God will dwell in it so completely that you won’t be able to remain standing.
The Holy Spirit in me, completes me. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own…you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius