Read

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "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."

Think

I was running late to church on a Sunday morning. That happens more than you would think for a pastor. I was pushing it down the highway, glancing at the clock, mentally calculating whether I could make it to the green room before the band finished the second song. Then I saw the lights in my rearview mirror. Red and blue. Flashing.

I pulled over. The officer walked up to my window and asked for my license. I reached for my wallet and realized I did not have it. No license. Speeding and no license. My wife, Lisa, was in the passenger seat, and instead of offering moral support, she pulled out her phone and took a photo of me sitting there getting a ticket. She thought it was hilarious. I tried to explain to the officer that I was a pastor on my way to preach. He was unmoved. He wrote the ticket and sent me on my way. Slowly.

That morning stuck with me, and not just because Lisa still has the photo. It stuck with me because of the irony. I was speeding to get to a place where I was going to tell people to slow down and follow God’s direction. I was breaking the speed limit on my way to talk about living within God’s design. And the officer did not care about my destination. He cared about how I was getting there.

Paul writes to the Corinthians, "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." That is a speed limit sign for your life. God is not just interested in where you end up. He is deeply interested in how you get there. The vehicle matters. And your body, your life, your daily choices, that is the vehicle.

I love how Paul frames this. He does not say your body is a rental car. He says it is a temple. There is a massive difference. You treat a rental car one way. You drive it hard, you park it wherever, you spill coffee in it and shrug. But a temple? A temple is sacred space. A temple is where God dwells. You do not treat a temple carelessly. You steward it. You protect it. You honor what it was built for.

You can take a beautiful, finely engineered car and drive it off-road through ditches and mud and over rocks. The car might survive for a while. It might even seem like fun. But you are destroying it. The suspension was not built for that terrain. The tires were not designed for those conditions. The engine was not engineered for that kind of abuse. And slowly, piece by piece, you ruin something that was built for greatness by using it for something it was never designed to do.

That is what happens when we ignore God’s speed limits for our lives. When we push our bodies past what they were designed to endure. When we pour things into ourselves that do not belong there. When we use our gifts for purposes they were never intended for. When we drive through life at a speed that leaves us empty, exhausted, and broken down on the side of the road. We are taking the vehicle off-road.

"You were bought at a price." Paul does not want you to miss that. You are not a random collection of cells. You are not a biological accident. You are a purchased masterpiece. God paid the highest price imaginable, the life of his Son, to make you his temple. When you understand the price that was paid, it reframes everything. You stop treating your body like a rental. You stop treating your time like it is disposable. You stop treating your gifts like they are yours to waste. Everything becomes an act of stewardship because everything belongs to someone who paid dearly for it.

"Therefore honor God with your bodies." That is not a burden. It is a purpose statement. It answers the question we all carry: What am I here for? You are here to honor God. With your body. With your choices. With how you eat, how you rest, how you work, how you speak, how you treat the people around you. Every day is an opportunity to honor the one who bought you, or to speed past his limits and pretend you did not see the sign.

I got to church that Sunday morning. A few minutes late, but I got there. And honestly, the ticket was the best sermon illustration I had all day, even if I had not planned it. God has speed limits for your life. Not because he wants to slow you down for no reason, but because he knows the road ahead and he knows what speed will get you there safely. So take your foot off the gas where you need to. Honor the vehicle. Respect the speed limit. And trust that the God who paid the price for you knows exactly how fast you should be going.

Apply

Honor the temple – Choose one specific way to honor God with your body today. It might be what you eat, how you rest, what you say, or how you spend your time. Pick one area where you have been "speeding" and intentionally slow down. Treat the vehicle like the temple it is.

Pray

God, I forget sometimes that I am not my own. I treat my body, my time, and my gifts like they belong to me when they belong to you. You bought me at a price I could never repay. Forgive me for the ways I have dishonored your temple by ignoring your speed limits. Help me to steward this life you have given me with the reverence it deserves. I do not want to drive off-road when you built me for the highway. Show me where I need to slow down, where I need to change course, and where I need to simply honor you with the choices I make today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.