VS. March 21, 2025 Devotional

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20 | ¹⁹ Or 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? ²⁰ For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Exercising self-control with life’s pleasures and necessities has another benefit. By making room for spirit’s counsel and direction, we shape our own minds and souls. Scientists who study the mind body relationship have a saying about our neurons “what fires together wires together.” Prayers and attention to scripture create new and holy pathway in our brains. Paul says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. This was astounding in the first century: the Temple was God’s dwelling, the center of national religious devotion, and the place where heaven and earth connected! Spiritual practices are a way of purifying the Temple and enhancing our own capacity to hear God and sense his presence within us.

Does your temple need some house cleaning?

Gracious God,

Thank you for the Parakletos, the Holy Spirit, which is our Advocate, Encourager, and Guide. May we make room in our lives, hearts and minds for the Spirit’s action.

Amen.