O: The temple is ourselves. The Holy Spirit resides in every Christian and the residing place of that which is holy must become holy...By repentance, we are forgiven by God through the blood of Christ and made righteous-those who live in repentance are working towards sanctification.
As the temple is our body, is it anything else? I'm sure that it's not just our physical bodies, but our hearts as well as our mind and soul-as the Spirit is there, residing in the temple of God-which is all of those things as one. Christ has renewed our hearts and minds and redeemed our soul-
"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands."
Acts 7:24
God has made us anew, bought us with His Son's blood, and readied us to be the residing place of His Spirit.
What does it mean to destroy the temple? I think to fill our hearts and minds with crap-trashy television, explicit music, sexual inuuendos, etc, we destroy our heart (as well as expressing it vocally), thus destroying a part of the temple.
"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man."
Matthew 15:18
To disrespect our bodies, with even a lack of sleep or the controversial tattoo (for the wrong reasons and I doubt even good reasons), is the hold the temple in irreverence-As we no longer hold custody over our bodies, it's no longer our right to live the way we see fit...because we are the temple of God.
But above all else, when our soul is stained with sin, it is most definitely destroying God's temple-God cannot have fellowship with sin and love of sin breaks down the temple in far worse ways than lack of sleep or coarse talking (but those can lead to sin as well)...
Those who hold God's temple with litte regard will find themselves (unrepentant, for one thing which leads to) being condemned. God will destroy him-that's really quite straightforward and I understand that whoever lives in sin and does come into repentance, thus destroying the temple that which God intended to be holy, will be utterly condemned by the Lord.
A: I will remember that I (the entirety of who I am) am the temple of God. The Holy Spirit resides with me and I will not have a love of that which defiles the temple of God. I will strive for sanctification, with absolute hatred of sin-not only that, but I will strive to keep my body in shape and well-rested as it actually isn't my own body anymore.
P: Lord, with Your Son's sacrifice, you bought my life and I see that just knowing and applying the knowledge that my entirety is the temple of God means I need to live differently. Would you be glorified in my desire to be responsible and treat my body, heart, soul, and mind as a holy place? I also pray that you work up that desire to a diligent, daily action of living in repentance and keeping your temple holy. In Christ, amen.
Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.
Exodus 25:8
Soli Deo Gloria
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