Belonging
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples 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 bodies.”
Today’s Text: 1 Corinthians 6:12=20 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Wow. What a countercultural message that is for us today. He’s basically saying that our bodies don’t belong to us. In fact, our whole being does not belong to us but belongs to God.
Of course, that is a choice that we have to make. Am I going to surrender my entire being over to God, or do I demand to keep some part of it for myself?
We could talk about the issue of abortion. That would be very easy. It is worth noting though that abortion is not a political issue but a spiritual one. The life inside of a pregnant woman does not belong to the woman, but to God. In fact, the body of the woman does not belong to herself, but belongs to God.
I’m not sure I’ve ever spoken about abortion in any detail publicly. I wonder if both sides of the debate might take offense. Abortion is absolutely wrong. But I’m not so sure it should be legislated, either pro or con. Doing so turns it into a political debate, deflecting from the real issue—the spiritual one. And if the church were doing what it is supposed to be doing (teaching and promoting living life to the full in Jesus Christ), maybe the cultural assumption about abortion would change: “Of course abortion is wrong, except in life-threatening cases. The fetus and the woman and the man belong to God.”
But this passage isn’t about abortion specifically, although it does apply. This passage is about sexual immorality and sleeping with temple prostitutes. And although the lesson about sexual immorality is directly relevant, obviously, we must not stumble into superficial moralism and lose sight of the main spiritual point: Christ owns every part of us.
But that spiritual point does not condemn us, either, because of our sin. It is because Christ owns every part of us through faith (fact) that we are saved. Knowing that, we should repent of our sins again and again and continue to strive to surrender every part of ourselves to Him.
He has an infinite amount of grace for us when we repent and surrender ourselves to Him for our salvation.
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ZAMBIA UPDATE
Honestly, I didn’t get much prepped yesterday for our ministry with village pastors and wives today. The jet lag coming here has been the worst I’ve experienced since we’ve been coming here.
But what a blessing it was to hand over the Chromebooks to Principal Dorothy yesterday! She expressed her praise to God and thanks to us, as did the children. It was so beautiful.
Part of the requirements for being a school in Zambia is that they need to teach technology. Principal Dorothy told us that people from the Ministry of Education were coming to inspect their curriculum and resources, and so God’s timing was absolutely perfect. Amazing.
But we do have a day of ministry out at Mwembeshi Bible School today with village pastors and their wives. CJ and I will be teaching that a biblical marriage is the key to a healthy family and a strong church.
Please pray for us every day: (1) for safety and health, (2) for a fruitful ministry with the village pastors and wives, married couples at the church, and the young adults, (3) that God would use us to help bring the gospel to the lost in Zambia, and (4) that God would use the Chromebooks being donated to grow disciples and advance the gospel in Zambia..
Love you all. Blessings
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Father, You are the Creator of heaven and earth. You knit me in my mother’s womb. I never knew her, but You know her. And You have known me even before I existed there. How can I understand it. I confess that I so often lose sight of the fact that I belong to You—every part of me. Grow me, and grow us, in that understanding, so that it would be our joy to surrender our selves to You every day. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
