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My Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

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(I Corinthians 6:19)

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

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After Jesus ascended to heaven, churches started to appear. During the second mission journey of the Apostle Paul, the Corinthian Church was built. Corinth was the capital for the region of Achaea.

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In that city of Corinth, including the temple of Apollo, the God of Sun, there were twelve huge temples which served many gods. So the people of that place naturally served idols.

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And in that city, the people from different places all gathered together so there were lots of bad cultures. Especially, the people in that place were not ashamed of doing bad things between man and woman.

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But more amazing than that, the people in that place believed Jesus when the Apostle Paul preached the gospel. The Corinthian church became filled up with many people. The Holy Spirit had changed their hearts.

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After believing Jesus, they lived differently. They loved each other and helped out their neighbors. And they got rid of their old bad habits.

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For about 1 and a half years, the Apostle Paul stayed in the Corinthian Church and preached the gospel. Apostle Paul thought they had a righteous faith of believing Jesus well so he left Corinth to build another church in other places.

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But after Apostle Paul left, bad things started to happen in the church. Some people did bad things which believers of Jesus should not do.

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The people in the church began to hate each other and some of them even had a serious fight. They insisted they were right so they fought. They even had lawsuits against each other and made the shameful act of going to court.

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And some people returned to how they were before going to church. Some people returned to the habit of getting drunk. Some people had relationships which God wasn't glad with.

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They used their bodies in doing bad things. They thought they could do whatever they wanted with their bodies. They did not care about their bodies getting hurt.

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Their thoughts were very wrong. If you believe in Jesus and you are going to heaven, your body also belongs to God. For us to enter heaven, God let Jesus, His only Son, die on the cross as the cost to buy us from Satan.

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So God owns the bodies of those who are entering heaven by believing Jesus. Satan who had lived in our hearts is chased out and now the Holy Spirit lives in us. Our bodies are just like a very clean temple where God, the Holy Spirit, stays.

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But the people of the Corinthian Church did whatever they wanted with their bodies. They did bad things with their bodies. They got their bodies dirty in places where God is not happy with. That was a very wrong thing.

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In Corinthians 6 19-20, the Apostle Paul told us on how we should use our bodies. Let us read it out loud. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

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We, as believers of Jesus should use our bodies and our hearts in doing things that can make God happy. We should watch out from using our bodies in doing things that God is not happy with. Remember that your body is a temple where Holy Spirit stays and works hard to use your body in doing things that will bring joy to God.