Your Body, His Home
A door slightly open with warm light within, a small picture of a heart made to be a home for the Holy Spirit.
Devotional Credit: Immeasurably More, Ray Stedman
Photo Credit: Unsplash
We carry a high purpose in ordinary skin. Paul says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, not rented rooms or storage units, but a living place meant for God’s presence. Ray Stedman reminds us that this changes everything about how we think of ourselves, and how we think of intimacy. The body is not disposable. It is consecrated space.
Sexual immorality is not just a private mistake. It is a misuse of sacred space. Stedman points out that this is why it corropts us so quickly. It ties a temple that belongs to God to a union God did not design, and the result is the shrinking of the heart, the dulling of love, and the rise of self first. Jesus invites us out of that spiral, not with shame, but with a better belonging.
You were bought at a price. That settled claim is not about control that crushes, it is about love that rescues. In the cross and resurrection, Jesus restores us to the purpose for which humanity was made. We are not our own, and that is freedom. We belong to the One who knows what brings life. Stedman’s words help us remember that honoring God in our bodies is not a dour rule, it is the rediscovery of our true dignity.
This also sits well with a corporate lens. We are a people who together form a temple. When one member treats the body lightly, the whole community aches. When we honor Jesus with our bodies, the whole community shines. We are a household God is building, stone by stone, person by person, indwelt by the Spirit who delights to make His home with us.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I dwell in you. I am not far from your ordinary life. Your body is My temple, and I have made My home within you through the redemption that My Son secured. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. I am the Holy Spirit, and I set you apart for sacred use, not by your straining, but by My presence and power.
I remind you that you have been united with Jesus. You have been crucified with the Messiah, and the life you now live in the body you live by faith in the Son of God. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. Present your body to Me as one alive from the dead, and present your members to righteousness for My purposes. I work in you to will and to work for My good pleasure, and I never leave you.
I call you to honor Me with your body. Flee what degrades love. Pursue purity that springs from who you already are in My Son, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for My possession. Set your mind on things above, for your life is hidden with the Anointed One in God. You are being built together into a dwelling place for Me. I cleanse, I beautify, I make you radiant.
This is not about you managing yourself by rules. This is about abiding. Remain in My love, and let My word dwell in you richly. When desire tugs at you, when loneliness whispers, when screens invite, turn toward Me. I am in you. I am enough in the moment you are in. Offer your body to Me, and I will express the life of Jesus through you in real time, with real peace, for real love.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a key card that opens a hotel room. The card only works for the room that matches the programming from the front desk. When someone tries to use it at the wrong door, nothing good happens. Frustration rises. Access is denied. Your body is more than a room with a lock. It is a suite reserved by the Owner who loves you. He has placed His name on the door. He has programmed your heart for His presence. When we try our key on doors He has not assigned, we cut against our own design, and the hallway gets darker.
Today, when temptation or loneliness shows up, you can quietly turn to the Lord who lives in you. You might say, Lord, I yield my body to You in this moment. Live Your holy love through me right now as I answer this text, as I close this tab, as I walk past that memory. Give a specific yes. Delete the thread. Put the phone down. Step into the light with a trusted friend. Not to earn anything, but because Jesus already lives in you, and His life fits you better than your old patterns ever did.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that my body is Your dwelling place. Thank You that I am not my own because You purchased me at the cross, and You raised me to new life with Jesus. I agree with You that my body is holy ground, not by my merit, but by Your indwelling. I offer my members to You today as instruments of Your love. I thank You that You work in me to will and to do Your good pleasure. I rest in the truth that I am dead to sin and alive to You in Jesus. I thank You that purity is not a ladder I climb, but fruit You bear as I abide. Receive glory in my body and in the wider body of Your people. Amen.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
John 14:17 - 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 - Galatians 2:20 - Romans 6:11-13 - Romans 12:1 - Philippians 2:13 - 1 Peter 2:9 - Colossians 3:1-4 - Ephesians 2:21-22 - Ephesians 5:25-27 - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4