Hey, can I tell you something that totally wrecked me (in the best way)? I was sitting with my Bible one morning, half-asleep, coffee in hand, and I came across Paul’s words, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that His Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). And suddenly, it wasn’t just words on a page anymore. It hit me like a wave of warmth: I am God’s home.
Wow!
Not a building. Not a stone temple. Not some far-off holy place in the clouds. Me. You. Our actual, messy, ordinary, waking-up-with-bedhead selves. That’s where God chose to move in when we believed.
Let that sink in for a second.
I mean, think about it. God could’ve picked anywhere in the universe to live, some glorious galaxy, a mountaintop, or a palace lined with gold. And He picked… us?
These fragile human jars of clay? With our cracks, our pasts, our tempers, and our habit of eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before bed when we said we were going to "eat better"?
Yep. Us.
I do not know about you, but that truth does something deep to my heart. It calms the noise that tells me I’m not good enough.
It pushes back on that voice that says I have to earn God’s love, work harder, or clean myself up before He’ll come close.
Because the truth is, He already did. He chose to. You don’t invite someone to live with you unless you want them around. And God our Father? He wants to be close. He wants to be home in you and me.
Honestly, that changed my mindset.
It changed the way I see myself. I don’t get to talk down to myself anymore. I can’t call myself a failure, a burden, or a disappointment and still believe God lives in me. It just doesn’t match up.
If the God of love made us His temple, then maybe, just maybe, we need to see ourselves through His eyes: loved, chosen, special, treasured, and worthy.
And here’s where it gets both beautiful and real. Being God’s temple or home doesn’t mean we suddenly become perfect. Far from it. It means we live from the inside out, with the awareness that His Spirit is in us, teaching us how to walk through life with grace, with hope, and yes, even with humor.
Like that time, I completely lost my cool with someone who cut in front of me in traffic and then felt that gentle whisper inside say, “That’s not who you are.” Not condemning. Just inviting. That’s the Spirit at work. A gentle nudge toward love, a soft reminder that I carry something holy inside me, even in the chaos.
And let’s be real life can be chaotic. We get tired. We mess up. We snap at people we love. We wonder if we’re really doing this whole faith thing right. And yet, even in those moments, God doesn’t pack up and leave. He doesn’t say, “Well, this temple’s a mess, guess I’ll go find a cleaner one.” Nope. He stays. He cleans house with kindness, not condemnation. He’s in it for the long haul. Forever, to be exact!
Sometimes, I picture Him like this loving, laughing Father who sees me try to hold everything together with duct tape and my sheer willpower, and He just smiles and says, “Move over, my child, let Me help you with that.”
We need to understand our Father God is not distant. He’s not waiting for us to impress Him. He’s right here, dwelling in us, shaping us from the inside with grace that actually transforms us more and more into His image.
And here’s the amazing part. Because He lives in us, we become His presence in the world. Not because we have it all together but because we carry His love, and trust me, people today are desperate for that kind of love.
When we hug someone, speak kindness, sit with someone in their pain, forgive instead of lash out, those are holy moments. That’s the temple of God at work within us.
So, what do we do with all this?
How do we live as His temple?
Honestly? We just start showing up with open hearts. We let His Spirit, who lives in us, lead.
We choose love, even when it’s hard.
We forgive ourselves when we stumble.
We embrace the truth that we’re not trying to get close to God; we already are. He’s in us. Every breath, every laugh, every tear. He’s there.
And maybe most importantly, we remind each other. We tell our friends when they forget. We remind the woman who thinks she’s too broken. We whisper it to ourselves on the days when the darkness tries to creep in. You are God’s temple. You are His home. You are not alone.
From my heart, that’s what I wanted to tell you today: you are a sacred space. You really are!
You carry divine love inside you. And no matter what this week throws at you, I pray you hold on to that truth like an anchor: You are God’s beloved home.
The same spirit, God our Father, that raised Christ from the dead. lives in you.
Wow!
So go out there and live like it. Laugh a little louder. Love a little deeper. Hug someone you love. And when in doubt, just pause and remember… He’s right there with you.
Always.
RJ (Rox) Nolin
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