"For you are the temple of the living God."
2 Corinthians 6:16
A ten year-old boy said to his dad, "I hear people calling the church God's house. Does that mean God lives there?" Dad said, "Well, that is the place where we gather together to meet God in worship, but God wants to live in us. That means we can become God's house." That dad shared some good New Testament theology with his son. God wants to live in our lives.
How can we know for sure that God lives in us? The word of God and the Spirit of God give us that assurance. God has expressed His desire to live in us according to the Bible. "I will dwell in them and walk among them" (Leviticus 28:12). As believers in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you" (1 Corinthians 6:20). When the Holy Spirit lives in us, God's love is a reality to us (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). There are many other reasons given in the Bible to know God lives in us, but love is the greatest of all.
When God's love is real in our hearts, it makes a change in our lives. We love God and know that He first loved us. Also, we are enabled to love others unconditionally. The world cannot understand this kind of love. In addition to this, we want others to know God's love like we do. God's love seeks to touch other lives through us with deeds of kindness, encouraging words and ministries to those in need. God wants to do those things through us, because we are God's temple.
Father, live in us through the Holy Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen.
