Priceless
Opening Prayer
Think of your body’s priceless value to you. Then thank God that he considers you to be beyond value.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
[12] “I have the right to do anything,” you say-but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”-but I will not be mastered by anything. [13] You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. [14] By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. [15] Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! [16] Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” [17] But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. [18] Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. [19] Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What is Paul's view of the human body?Our bodies are worth a lot, in commercial terms. Hearts, kidneys, and lungs can be valued at thousands of dollars, and bone marrow or DNA at even higher figures. And yet our bodies are worth far more than that in that they are “temples of the Holy Spirit” (19). In today’s reading Paul reminds us that our bodies don’t belong to us but instead are members of Christ himself (15). Because of this, we need to be careful about the uses to which we put our body, as not everything is worthy (12). One area where we can clearly go wrong is in sexual immorality. Sexual sin–not only the prostitution that Paul mentions but also premarital sex, adultery, and other forms of immorality–has perhaps never been more widely accepted than it is right now. Yet, as always, sexual immorality is a violation of what our bodies have become since we have been joined with Christ. We were raised in Christ, our bodies are his, and we find our fulfillment only in him (14,15).
Apply
Have you been using your body in a way that brings discredit to you and disappoints the Lord?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to honor You with my whole body and soul today. May I never grieve the Spirit who dwells within me.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.