Daily Prayer: My Body Is Not My Own — And That's Actually Good News
Daily Prayer: My Body Is Not My Own — And That's Actually Good News
"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."
— 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I caught myself standing at the bathroom mirror this morning, just for a second longer than usual. Not in a vain way — more in a huh, look at that kind of way. The small lines near my eyes that weren't there ten years ago. The way my hair does exactly what it wants, always.
I wasn't bothered by it. I was just... noticing.
And for whatever reason, that's when this verse came to mind. Which is a little funny, honestly, because the mirror is probably the last place I expect a theological moment to ambush me before I've finished my coffee.
A Temple I Forget I'm Living In
I've read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 more times than I can count. It's one of those verses that feels familiar enough that I sometimes let it slide right past me without really landing.
But this morning, it landed.
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
I think I've always processed that verse as a rule — like a fence around a list of things I shouldn't do. And sure, that's part of it. But standing at the mirror, I noticed I was reading it more like an announcement. A fact. Something true about me whether I feel like it or not.
The Holy Spirit actually lives here. In this body that gets tired. In this body that needs reading glasses now, which, fine. In this body that made a whole human being and has been carrying groceries and showing up to work and hugging my husband for decades.
That's the address. Right here.
The "You Are Not Your Own" Part
That line used to sound a little stern to me. You are not your own. Like being told you don't get a say.
But I think I had it backwards.
When my daughter was little, I would have done anything to keep her safe — not because she owed me something, but because she was mine in the most loving sense of that word. I claimed her. I was responsible for her. That belonging was protection, not a cage.
I think that's closer to what Paul means. Belonging to God isn't a restriction. It's a covering. It means Someone with infinitely more wisdom and care than I have is invested in what happens to me — including what happens to this body I walk around in every day.
I was bought at a price. That price was enormous. And that changes the way I want to treat what He paid for.
Honoring God With My Body in an Ordinary Week
I'll be honest — my first instinct when I read "honor God with your bodies" is to go straight to the big stuff. The obvious things. The dramatic choices.
But most of my life isn't dramatic. It's lunch and laundry and a commute and a conversation with my adult daughter that goes sideways and then rights itself again, the way conversations with people you really love tend to do.
I think honoring God with my body looks a lot like the small things, most days.
It looks like actually sleeping instead of scrolling until midnight. It looks like eating something real for lunch instead of crackers over the sink because I got busy. It looks like taking a walk not because I'm trying to earn something, but because moving this body that the Holy Spirit lives in feels like a small act of gratitude.
It looks like using my voice kindly, because my voice is part of my body too.
It looks like showing up — physically present, not just technically in the room — when my husband wants to talk about something or when my daughter calls just to check in.
None of that is glamorous. But I've started to think that's kind of the point. The temple metaphor isn't just about the grand ceremonies. Temples require daily tending. Ordinary maintenance. Someone who shows up and takes care of the place because they understand what it's for.
What I'm Still Working Out
I don't think I've fully settled into this idea yet. I notice I still treat my body more like a tool than a temple on my busier days — something to push through fatigue, to fuel just enough to keep going, to sort out later.
Later is a word I use too generously with myself.
But I'm sitting with this verse a little differently now. Less like a rule to comply with and more like a truth to slowly get comfortable inside of. The Holy Spirit is here. He was here at the mirror this morning. He's here right now as I type this.
That's worth taking seriously. And also — somehow — worth feeling genuinely glad about.
A Prayer for Today
God, thank You for the strange and honest truth that I am not my own.
I don't always treat this body like something precious. I push it too hard and rest it too little and mostly just expect it to keep cooperating. I'm sorry for that. I think I can do better.
Help me remember today — in the ordinary middle of it — that the Holy Spirit is actually here. Not waiting for me to clean up or get it together. Here. Now.
Help me honor that. Not perfectly. Just genuinely.
And thank You for paying a price I can't comprehend just to call me Yours. I don't take that lightly, even when I act like I do.
Amen.
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