Living with Purpose – part 2
Flee from sexual immorality… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own (1Cor 6:18-19).
The teaching that man is ‘body, soul and spirit’ dates as far back as ancient Greek philosophies long before Jesus Christ came. It is one of those dichotomy philosophies which have made it to today’s world. It brought up nasty debates like “what you do in the body does not affect your spirit – true or false?” and such were never easy to resolve. This concept was and is still used by many people to justify physical behaviour that is or results in sin.
In the Corinthian Church, there were some people who still indulged in sexual immorality – sleeping with a neighbour’s spouse, going to prostitutes – and they would come back to church and fellowship claiming ‘what I do in the flesh does not affect my spirit’! Are Christians doing the same today? Some know that it is outright sin, but when overcome by the flesh and fall into sexual sin, they try to find any way of escaping the guilt. It is good to know that some enter deep remorse and would repent with tears, or unfortunately feel unworthy and run away from fellowship.
Consequences of sexual sin are all around us, and none is desirable: many university students end up with dead years after getting pregnant, others go through abortions, while many more live with a sense of guilt and disappointment in oneself; some give up and just live without any sense of purpose because they have lost it all. It could even go as far as people fighting for partners, and some have even died in such fights! Flee from sexual immorality.
Living with purpose in this context means you should know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and so you should glorify God in your body. This should be deliberate and the one who will succeed in avoiding sexual sin in this perverse generation must avoid tempting company, shun drinking and drugs and deliberately determine to be clear about one’s principles to peers. In matters of the flesh, you can hardly trust anyone; take your principled stand and not only avoid the destructive consequences, but more so glorify God in your body.
God bless you.