The Gift of a Temple

Stewardship is the practice of living as entrusted ones: receiving, cultivating, and returning all of life to God in love.

Genesis 1:26-28 NIV
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

1.  The Creation of the Temple

God created humans with bodies.

“Jesus’s incarnation is the highest compliment the human body has ever been paid.” — Sam Allberry

1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
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

A heart that cannot give thanks will to for the gift that God has to it.

Question for Reflection #1:
What do I believe about the body God has gifted to me? Do I see it as a burden or an entrustment?

2. The Maintenance of the Temple

1 Corinthians 6:20 NIV
Do you now 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.

“We don’t always think of caring for the body as a part of our spiritual practice. But this is where it all begins. It can be hard and humbling to pay attention to your body, whatever state it is in, because it brings you face to face with your finiteness, your vulnerability. That in itself doesn’t seem very relevant to your spiritual life. You may resist giving any kind of attention to the body because somewhere along the line you have learned to put the spiritual and the physical in separate compartments. You may believe that the spiritual journey takes place in a realm completely separate from the body. But the truth is that the spiritual journey is taken in a physical body, and there is a very real connection between caring for our body and deepening our relationship with God.”
—Ruth Haley Barton, “Invitation to Silence and Solitude.

“Gluttony shows us that sin has disordered our desires, turning good and necessary things into cravings and yearnings.” —Timothy Keller

Stewardship is about the right , not just the right .

Purity isn’t , it’s . It’s responding to God’s love and gift, not earning His approval.

Question for Reflection #2:
Which practice—physical, spiritual, or self-control related—is God inviting me to begin or restore this week?

3. The Preparation of the Temple

Stewardship isn’t just . It’s .

1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God calls us to prepare our bodies not for , but for .

Stewardship = retraining our desire toward God.

We practice self-control and active stewardship not to ourselves, but to for what is coming.

Question for Reflection #3:
As I enter this holiday season, how can I set my eyes on the real feast of life with Jesus?

The of God are THE temple and take God’s to the world.

Answer Key: intentionally, physical; struggle, care, entrusted; desire, behavior; legalism, stewardship; self-improvement, preparation; worldly standards, Kingdom purposes; punish, make room; people, presence