Bought with a Price

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NIV)

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 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.


Reflection 

*God understands us and forgives us, so…

*We love each other, so…

*Times have changed, so…

*In God’s eyes, we’re already married, so…

God doesn’t simply set arbitrary rules. His instructions always reflect His love for us. Controlling our bodies isn’t just a suggestion; it is vital to the survival of the body – our physical bodies and the body of the church. It’s one thing to sin and repent, but it’s quite another to live in continuous sin.  

It is so difficult to think about sex the way God does. If we immerse ourselves in the sexual content of music, magazines, movies, and social media, we are left feeling empty. This thought process creates dissatisfaction with what we have. Even in the grocery store tabloids, we see culture’s ridiculous attempt to normalize sex outside of marriage. Culture says anything goes, but God says our bodies are not our own, and they were bought by the blood of Jesus.

What entices us in the flesh may temporarily feel good, but the threat of a sexual cycle of sin loiters. We end up feeling worthless and abandoned, unable to go to God. We want to feel good again, so we sin again. What are we doing to allow sin to thrive? We must starve sin. We must love Who we are sinning against more than we love the sin. We need to be relentless, but we cannot do it alone. We must replace our appetites with a better appetite by looking to the Holy Spirit for self-control to honor God with our bodies.

Remember that sin should always make us feel remorse. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, we have been paid for by the highest price (Christ’s body) and we are His temple. When we sin sexually, we hurt ourselves, but we also disrespect God’s temple by not using it in the manner He designed it for.

We have been bought with a price. God has chosen to put His Spirit in us, so we must glorify Him in all we do. If we are not glorifying Him in our behaviors, we must aggressively flee from the behavior. Pull out all of the stops and constantly remind ourselves that our reward is not of this world!


Action Steps

The worst sin is the sin we feel no need to be delivered from. Read and contemplate Proverbs 5. How do these verses relate to today’s reflection?

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words of insight,
that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;
but in the end she is bitter as gall,
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.
She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
Keep to a path far from her,
    do not go near the door of her house,
lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity to one who is cruel,
lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.
At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!
I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
And I was soon in serious trouble
    in the assembly of God’s people.”

Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
    and he examines all your paths.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.
For lack of discipline they will die,
    led astray by their own great folly.


Prayer

Heavenly Father, show me all the ways that I am sinning against you. Convict me and guide me to change my behavior. You have perfectly designed me. Please continue to remind me that I am called to honor You in all areas, including my sexuality and sexual behaviors, because You have a divine plan for my life. Thank You for loving me. In Jesus’ name, amen.