Let me start off by saying that God hit me like a truck with this earlier, so all of this is a result of Him wrecking me...no judgement, just thought I would share incase it applied to anyone else :)
"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
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.
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Okay, I know that's a ton of scripture, but I wanted to post the full context of what's going on here, so you all can get the picture.
This is a pretty familiar passage, and we frequently cite it when having the debate over what is lawful to eat, old vs. new testament law, and refraining from sexual immorality...while this does present solutions to all of these arguments, God spoke to me specifically about another topic as well.
This morning, I was laying in bed, arguing with myself on how long I could push staying in bed before getting up and starting my day, when he dropped this old hymn into my spirit:
"Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy,
tried and true.
with thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for you."
If there was any question left to whether or not I was getting up, needless to say, it ended there. I immediately thought of the aforementioned scripture began to search myself, and question...is my life a living sanctuary for God to dwell in? Is everything I let in my mind, soul, body, and spirit pure and holy? I personally, was not sure...
Now, I know I am not the only one who can question that in their life. While you may or may not be committing the literal act of sexual immorality, that 1 Corinthians 6 specifically points out, are there not plenty of other actions that constitute as sexual immorality to the spirit within you? That make you an adulterer to God?
When you let anything in that penetrates the purity of the one within you, that my friends is sexual immorality, even if it has nothing to do with physical temptations that can penetrate your physical purity. Be it a TV shows, music, movies, thoughts, words spoken, stories read, or actions committed that you know deep down shouldn't be coming into your spirit, we've all allowed the things of this world to desecrate the temple that God has created within us.
You may be saying to yourself..."The shows I watch aren't THAT bad...and the music I listen to doesn't have any swear words or illicit material...and they didn't actually have sex in that movie..they were just kissing..what does it matter?"...well ultimately friend, you are still giving the things of this world the opportunity to deposit small, harmless seed in your spirit, and give that temptation another opportunity to water, and develop into sin much grander than you had thought it would as you watched your two favorite actors cuddling it up on camera. You give it the opportunity to track mud into your temple, and if you let it sit there, thinking it's no big deal...that mud can engrain itself into the floor, and make it much hard to clean up when the unsightly mess is finally brought to your attention.
We also have to remember what Paul said to the Corinthians in verse 12 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."...So although that movie, song, or TV show you're allowing in may be okay to watch under the standards of what is acceptable and not acceptable in the church, does that mean it's really helpful? Is it planting good seed into your soil that will germinate and produce kingdom fruit? Because even if something you let in your spirit isn't depreciating your temple, that doesn't mean it isn't taking up space that could be occupied by something better, something from God.
Are the things you allow to enter you cleaning up your inner sanctuary, or cluttering it?
It doesn't end with media...words you allow yourself to read in a Facebook post, email, or text message that aren't speaking life can scuff the floor of your sanctuary...Words that you allow yourself to listen to that bring others down and judge, curse, or ridicule them...words that you eventually end up speaking, desecrate your spirit that God created to speak life, joy, love, and freedom into others...not death; be it emotional, spiritual, or even physical.
So don't allow these things to have power over you and your temple any longer! Allow God to speak to you and reveal what areas need to be cut away. If we are supposed to be members of Christ, we cannot be filled with the disease and malice of this world, because such things cannot dwell in the presence of God. If we continually live in such sin, no matter how small it may seem, we will eventually become diseased and fall away. Our temple will grow dark and dusty as a result of the absence of the Lord. He'll stay in the little room we've boxed Him into, and until you clean up, no matter how hard you cry for Him to come back, He will not reenter your sanctuary until it is a room fit for a King!
BUT, it's not all fire and brimstone...As you clean up, He'll step further and further in, until you are able to dwell with His full presence within you all the time! How exciting does that sound?!?
Although it may be difficult to prepare your sanctuary, and many changes may have to be made, it is truly an honor that God chose us to be vessels of His presence...to be conduits of His glory.
Wasting that honor is not only a travesty to ourselves, but a travesty to others, because when we are able to make our lives a full sanctuary to Him, God can then use us to pour into others and give them the same opportunity.
And if it ever becomes too difficult...remember "you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." (verse 20)
He gave up His life for us, so what are a few idols in comparison?
-Aubrey
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