GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

AUGUST 12, 2022  

TOPIC: GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY

BY T. O. BANSO

“For ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20 American Standard Version).

Man is a spirit. He has a soul and lives in a body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). For anyone to be a human being, and to be able to live legally on earth, he needs a physical body. God has given the earth to the children of men (Psalm 115:16).

For Jesus to be able to live physically here on earth, He had to be born a human being. He referred to Himself as the Son of man – talking about His humanity. But He is also the Son of God, referring to His divinity. Jesus was born with an earthly body. Satan is a trespasser. He has no earthly body. Angels are ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14) with no earthly body.

Some people erroneously think that God is only interested in their souls and spirit; they think He is not interested in how they use their bodies. That’s not true. God is interested in your spirit, soul, and body. “For ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20 American Standard Version). To glorify God, in this scripture, means to honour Him. When you become a Christian, you don’t own your body. It is wrong to think like non-believers that you can do whatever you like with your body. Your body belongs to God, not you. Use your body to honour or glorify God.

Why should you glorify God in your body? Glorify God in your body because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is the house of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, the house of God because the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Each person of the Trinity is fully God. The three are divine and distinct persons, co-equal, and co-eternal. The Holy Spirit dwelling in the body of a believer means that God is dwelling in him.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “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?” (New King James Version).  The preceding verse says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (verse 18 New King James Version). Your body is not for sexual immorality.

Engaging in sexual immorality does not glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:13b says the body is not for sexual immorality but the Lord, and the Lord for the body. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (verses 15-17, New King James Version).

When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, He bought you – spirit, soul, and body. He paid for the whole of you, not a part of you, though only your spirit is born again at salvation. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (New King James Version). This scripture shows that God is interested in your body. A sacrifice once offered does not belong to the person who offered it.

You must present your body as a living sacrifice. Though you’re still alive and can move about, you don’t own your body. It belongs to God. Therefore, God demands that you do what will honour or glorify Him with or in your body.

Gluttony does not glorify God. Eat to live, not live to eat. Romans 14:6b says he who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Eating to the Lord does not mean eating the wrong things or in the wrong ways that will jeopardize your health, thereby making you ineffective in the fulfilment of God’s purpose for your life. Such a body does not glorify God.

A negative lifestyle, including substance abuse, will have negative effects on your body. God needs you alive to glorify Him. Only the living can praise the Lord. “The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17 New King James Version). Isaiah 38:18a says a similar thing: “For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise” (New Living Translation). David says, “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalm 6:5 New King James Version). Glorify God in your body – honour Him; worship Him; praise Him.

Glorify God in your body. As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct (1 Peter 1:15). Be holy, for God is holy (verse 16). Avoid using your body for anything that won’t bring glory to God. “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:13-14 New King James Version).

Before you do anything, always ask yourself: will this bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31 says whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

According to 1 Timothy 4:8, physical exercise has some value. It will help keep your body fit to be able to do things that will glorify God. However, you must not become excessively body-conscious, that your body becomes the god you worship, as some do. They spend so much money on looking good, including spending fortunes on surgeries that are not health-related. Such people are guilty of self-objectification. This is vanity. They are not glorifying God in their bodies but glorifying themselves in their bodies. Glorify God in your body.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

PRAYER POINTS:  Father, forgive me for the ways I have not glorified You in my body. Holy Spirit, help me to, henceforth, glorify God in my body. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; I shall not use it for sexual immorality. I shall not offer any part of my body for unrighteousness but righteousness. I pray that those who use their bodies to glorify Satan will repent, surrender their lives to Jesus, and serve God who owns their bodies.

(For over 800 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org