STEWARDS OF OUR BODIES

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

Believers are not their own because they have been bought with a price. Their bodies and their spirits belong to God. This means that just as they are stewards of their possessions, they are stewards of their bodies.

Romans 6:12 says that we are not to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies. This means we are not to live out of our own wisdom. The last part of Romans 6:13 says that we are to make our bodies available to God.

Obviously, some will say, “This is going too far. I will be in control of my own body and no one else will be in control.” Others of us, though, are delighted that One who has perfect love, wisdom and power desires to provide the guidance and resources for our bodies. We grieve because we have committed too many sins, have made too many wrong decisions and have had too many failures.

In John 14:10, Jesus said that the works He did were the works of the Father. When Paul and Barnabas returned from the first missionary journey, three times they reported their experiences by telling what God had done through them. In Romans 15:18-19 Paul writes, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.” (NIV). These victories were all the result of God expressing Himself through their bodies.

If we want to experience life at its fullest, following the examples of Jesus, Paul and Barnabas, we will yield our bodies to their rightful owner. We can do this by experiencing our oneness with Christ.