A lot of people have tried to tell me "well, this is my body so I can do whatever I want to it." This makes me so sad because like the scripture says our bodies are God's and He loves us enough to let us use them. Lets just say for a moment our bodies were in fact completely ours, with the knowledge that we are made just like God and just the way He wanted us, why would you even want to change anything about your "temple?" Also, since our bodies are the temporary residence of our eternal spirit, what affects one will affect the other. By taking care of our bodies, we make our “temples” an acceptable house for our spirits.
So what would be considered defiling your body? I would go as far as saying that anything that makes your body look or do things differently than it should would be defiling it. In other word, drugs, alcohol, tattoos, body piercings, immodesty, immoral thoughts and actions, and many more things defile your body and make it unclean.
I would invite you the next time you think about doing something that might hurt your body in any way, give it one more thought and remember that it is the temple of God that you will be hurting. I know that God loves us as His children and wants us to be happy, so He gives us these beautiful bodies to enjoy life. Of this I am so very grateful and testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Here are some of the sources where my thoughts come from:
- Why are our bodies called temples of God in the Bible?
- What is the Mormon Church’s law of health and proper diet?
- How does modesty effect me spiritually?
