The "temple" in this scripture is your body.  And according to this verse, our bodies are to be holy.  To be holy means to be set apart, to be separated unto something and separated from something else.  Recently, as I was thinking about that, I was reminded of something else in the Word that God calls holy -- the tithe.  Suddenly, I realized that our bodies are much like the tithe!  The Bible teaches us that the tithe is devoted (just like God wants us to be).  That means it has been set aside for God.  It's a holy thing.  It's set apart for God's use.  If you're a believer and in covenant with God, every time you increase, 10 percent of that increase is holy.  If you don't tithe, that 10 percent still belongs to God, and the Bible says you are robbing God. 

    The Hebrew word in Scripture that means devoted, charman, actually means devoted to destruction.  So a person's tithe can be devoted to God or to destruction.  If they give it to God, it becomes devoted to Him.  If they keep it, and rob Him of it, it becomes devoted to destruction. 

    Now, in the light of that, lets read 1 Corinthians 3:16 again: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy." Just like the tithe, your body, the temple of the Holy Ghost, is holy.  And just like if you keep the tithe, it will be devoted to destruction, if you defile your body, it will be on a course for destruction as well.  If you don't keep your body the way you should, by obeying God, your body will begin to destruct.  This is the law of sowing and reaping in action.  The more a person takes drugs, drinks alcohol, partakes in pornography or adultery, and all other kinds of sin, the more quickly he or she will die. 

    Can this be true for a believer?  Yes.  The law of sowing and reaping works just like natural laws that govern this earth.  Gravity works for believers and unbelievers alike.  So does the law of sowing and reaping.  Let's take this a step further.  Consider this in regard to your body and healing.  Your body is holy, set apart, consecrated, devoted.  Therefore, no sickness or disease has a right in your body.  No sickness or disease has a right in the temple of God--and that temple has no business living unholy or carnally.

    God has called us, as His sons and daughters, to live set apart and sanctified...holy.  To be holy simply means that we obey God in everything He tells us to do -- that we live for him and stop participating in the world's ways.

    Lord, help me to honor my temple, and to give of my first fruits what is due to you.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.