The bible says that God created man in his own image. He also gave each one of us a unique physical body. We were all created so that we can reflect the glory of our creator.  We are essentially walking temples for our God. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body!

What we do with our physical bodies determines how we treat our relationship with God. We can use our body to sin against God and live in darkness or we can use it to glorify God and be full of light. Jesus says in Luke 11: 35-36 “See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

In Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus said “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right-hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.” This sounds a little extreme but Jesus wanted to make sure that He made his point on how we should use our body.

We can all choose what we want to do with our bodies as God has given us free will.  We can easily harm our bodies with things like drugs and alcohol. We can use our eyes to see things that are not beneficial for us. We can use our hands to do things that are sinful in God’s eyes. We can use our ears to listen to things that are harmful to us. We can also abuse our bodies but eating things that are harmful to our health. We can neglect exercise and sit on the couch watching tv every day. We all have a choice to use and abuse our bodies the way we want.  But what does God wants from us?

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.” This is the case with our physical bodies also. Are you using all the parts of your body to do things that are beneficial for your spiritual growth or do things that are harmful to your relationship with God? Are you abusing your body and using it to sin against God or are you treating our body as a temple of God? The choice is yours!