SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2024
TOPIC: DEFINE YOUR VALUE (II)
Memorise:
Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel (1 Peter 3:3).
Read: 1 Corinthians 6:15-19
[15]. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
[16]. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”
[17]. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
[18]. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
[19]. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
EXPOSITION
Value, in monetary terms, is “an amount expressed in money, or another medium of exchange that is thought to be a fair exchange for something.” In terms of importance, or reputation, it is “the worth, importance, or usefulness of something to somebody” (Microsoft® Encarta® 2009). Your value is what you worth, how mportant you are, the usefulness of your contributions to humanity, spiritually and otherwise. What is your worth? The issue of self-esteem, not ego or pride, comes in here. What is the definition of your value? How do you humbly but sincerely see yourself in the Lord? This would affect the way you relate with God and fellow humans.
Unfortunately, today, nudity is celebrated in our society, in the media, and sadly in families. The sensitive parts of the bodies of young men and women that should be made honourably private and preserved for only God and their spouses are exposed with no value attached. What a level of stupidity in the name of body positivity! People insensibly dress indecently in society and sadly in churches. Illegally fined crude oil can never compete with well-refined crude in the marketplace. Our text reminds us that our bodies are God’s temple and should be treated as such (cf. 1 Cor. 12:23). Parents and leaders, both in the religious and public sectors, must address the decline in moral values, especially in terms of fashion, and this change must begin in our homes. We must define our values by how we treat God’s temple–our body.
PRAYER POINTS
[1]. Lord, help me to treat my body the way You expect me to, with the understanding that I am only a steward of it
[2]. Ask for forgiveness for the misuse of your body in the past with alcohol, drugs, piercing, tattoos, bleaching, etc.
[3]. Lord, help our youths to stop abusing their bodies, so that they can properly value their bodies and others, in line with God’s standard.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
1 Corinthians 10, 11, 12
Remain blessed