1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (NRSV)
Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. Verse 13"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Verse 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Verse 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Verse 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." Verse 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Verse 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Verse 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? Verse 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
Devotion
The justifying words aren’t new to our day: “It’s my body! Why can’t I do what I please with what belongs to me? As long as my actions don’t hurt anyone else, what’s the big deal? None of us is perfect. Who am I to judge what another person does behind closed doors?”
Corinth was like many cities in today’s world: filled with big business, thriving and bustling. But it was sexually immoral, and its sexual immorality was working its way into the church.
Paul reminds the believers in Corinth, as he reminds us, that “we’ve been bought with a price.” Our lives are not our own, nor are our bodies. We belong to Jesus. He died to save us from our sin. Everything we do is to be done in response to Him.
Don’t allow this world’s excuses to become yours. The truth is that it’s not your body. It’s not even your life. It all belongs to Him. And that’s the promise belonging to you in Jesus.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you have bought my life at a high price – it cost you nothing less than your very life. So help me to take the high road of your calling, living each day as your child. Amen.