September 7
“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or 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.”
| FROM Conformed to the World | TO Transformed in Christ |
| 11. Instrument of unrighteousness; joined to immoral persons; indulging bodily lusts; dishonoring God in your body | 11. Instrument of righteousness; Temple of the Holy Spirit; glorifying God in your body |
The next transformation follows the others. We who have fallen into immoral behaviors must make the transformation of those whose bodies are instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6:12-23) to those whose bodies are instruments of righteousness.
How do you view yourself? Specifically, do you consciously view your body as not your own but a vessel, a temple, for the Holy Spirit to abide in? How does your temple look right now? Where have you made room for the Holy Spirit? Do you even know where He is? Is He in a closet somewhere, where you shut Him up because you won’t listen to His voice or obey Him? Is He knocking to get in?
What impure or unholy things does He see in His temple, your body, mind, and soul? Are there ungodly, immoral things that are detestable to Him that you keep around for your pleasure? Are you subjecting your body, His body, His temple, to ungodly acts that dishonor Him and drag His holy name through the mud? If you were Jesus, would you do the things you do and view the things you view?
This is truly a foundational transformation to make, similar to viewing ourselves as His bond-slaves, this takes it a step further in that we are to view ourselves as He Himself living in us, living through us. We need to be so much in Him that we are filled with Him to the point that we are just the shell that can hardly contain the God indwelling us. People should not even be able to recognize us because they are blinded by Jesus living His life through us. This and more is what I think of when I think of being a temple of the Holy Spirit. I think God wants to FILL His temple, not just have a room or a closet somewhere. I think God wants to blast through in all His shining glory from every window so that all anyone can see is Christ. Are you ready for this type of transformation?
ASSIGNMENT: Ask God to make you into a pure and holy temple that He is well pleased to fill and indwell, and ask Him to abide in you mightily. Ask Him to remove all sin and all thoughts and habits that diminish His glory. Ask Him to transform you into one whose body is being used as an instrument of unrighteousness to one whose temple is used only for righteousness. Ask and keep on asking that He would be greatly glorified in your body and your life.