"your body is the temple"

[Susanne]

“…know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

This passage has always stood out to me, but I’ve never really thought about it much more deeply until now. In Science and Health, the definition for “Temple” starts out with “Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love…”

So how do I glorify God in my body, which is a temple? I like this quote from desiring god.org:

“You are always in a temple. Always worship.” Which reminds me of “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.” (1 Thessalonians 5)

“Glorify” means to praise or honor. So I must rejoice and thank God for this vehicle for glorifying Him–to love and help others! I also must not bring anything into this temple that might pollute or defile, and not focus on my body or worship my body by bowing down to it. But if it is the “temple of the Holy Ghost”, and “the idea of Life”, then in reality it is whole, pure and free from anything unlike God. This is a perfect opportunity to translate what I see–the physical body–into its higher, spiritual definition and purpose, and give it back to God!

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