“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
How beautiful is that? Start from the end. First Corinthians 6:20 ends by saying after all this talk about sexual immorality, so glorify God in your body. How do you do that? I trust like every follower of Christ wants to do that, so how do you do that? And verses 19 and 20 are such a powerful reminder, and you just kind of work your way back for you were bought with a price.
Glorifying God with Our Bodies
We belong to God. Jesus gave His life so we will be united with Christ forever. May we glorify Him with our bodies.
Jesus loves you so much. He’s bought your body with a price. He’s paid the price for all your sin against him and he’s paid the price to defeat sin’s power over you. You are free. You have power over sin. Do not believe the lie that you cannot overcome sin. It’s not true. Jesus died on the cross to prove otherwise he is in you. That’s the whole point earlier in first Corinthians six, like your body is united with Christ. He is in you. He’s in you, the power of Jesus. His spirit is living in you. You’ve been bought with a price loved by him. You’re filled with him, and that’s the whole point before this. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 Reminds Us that We Belong to God
His spirit dwells in you like you’re not your own. You belong to him. What a picture like filled with the spirit of God. This is you. This is me. All who are in Christ filled with the spirit of God, loved by the son of God, so give glory to God with your body. Just soak that in in a fresh way right now, wherever you are, if you’re walking, running, driving, sitting somewhere, wherever you are just stop and soak this in. Your body right now is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God. You belong to God. You’re his. He is yours. He loves you so much. God has bought you with a price. He has given his life to save you and give you new life.
God, help us to glorify you with our bodies. Help us to glorify you with our thoughts. Help us to glorify you with our desires. God, help us to glorify you with our actions. Help us to glorify you in our relationships. Help us to glorify you in the moments when we are with others and help us to glorify you in the moments when we are alone, but we’re not really alone. We’re never really alone. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? You’re always with us. We’re never alone. Your spirit is always with us. The members of our body are always with Jesus. Whatever we do, we’re involving Jesus in.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 Prays for Bodies that Glorify God
So God, please help us to glorify you with everything in our bodies, and we pray and we trust that as we glorify you in our bodies that we will experience fullness, not miss out. We will experience fullness from you, which is what we long for. May it be so we pray, as temples of the Holy Spirit bought with a price, help us to glorify you with our bodies. In Jesus name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
