Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).  This being the case, we cannot be useful to the Lord without using our bodies properly.  Paul was forced to drive this point home to the brethren at Corinth.  They were thinking that they could use their bodies any way they wanted, including engaging in sexual immorality.

Why would a group of Christians ever think that sexual immorality was okay?  It was because of the Corinthian’s background.  Paul told them that it was okay to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols, as long as they did not do it as an act of worship (1 Corinthians 8:8).  Since the saints at Corinth were accustomed to engaging in sexual immorality as acts of worship, they figured it would be okay as long as it was not an act of worship, just like eating meat.  What was Paul’s response?

1 Corinthians 6:13-15 (ESV)
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!

Paul’s teaching, condemning the use of the body for sexual immorality, also teaches us that our bodies are in God’s future plans for us.  He is going to raise them up (ver.14), and we will spend eternity with God in heaven clothed in them.  Our bodies will be changed from natural to spiritual and from weakness to power, and will be fit for its new environment in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:35-51).

Due to God’s plans for our bodies, He wants us to use them respectfully, that is, in a way that will bring Him honor.

Romans 6:12-13 (ESV)
¹²  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Do you think you can be useful to God if you are using your body as an instrument for unrighteousness?  Hopefully, we all answer that question with a no.  We must use this temple that God has given us in a way that will allow our light to shine, causing non-Christians to take notice.  Remember, the Holy Spirit, through the medium of God’s Word, dwells in us, and if that is the case, the fruit of the Spirit should be seen in us (Galatians 5:16-18, 22-26).  When others can see the fruit of the Spirit by the lives that we live, we know that we are using our temples well.  The instructions of Paul remind us how important this is.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
¹  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Have you given your body as a living sacrifice to God?  If so, you are in a position to be used by the Lord.    

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.