Why should I treat my body like a temple?

1. Why should I treat my body like a temple?

2. Close your eyes and picture a temple. What color is it? How big is it? Does it have any windows? Are there spires? How many? All the temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are different. The Salt Lake Temple in Utah has gray granite walls and six spires. It looks different from the Cardston Alberta Temple in Canada, which has stone walls but no spires. Even though each temple looks different, all are beautiful and are built for the same purpose. They are places where special ordinances take place that are needed for us to return to Heavenly Father.

3. Your body is a temple for your spirit • You are like the temple. You are different from everyone else, but you too are a house for the Spirit of God—the Holy Ghost. Your body is a temple for your spirit.

4. What is a temple like? • Think about the temple. What is it like? • What are some words to describe it? Clean Organized Beautiful Light Well taken care of Pure How can these same words describe us and our bodies?

5. When you are clean in mind & body you can receive great blessings • Just as you treat temples with respect, you should treat your body with respect. You can do this by obeying the Word of Wisdom, by dressing modestly, and by keeping your body clean. You should also keep your heart and mind clean by reading, listening to, and watching only “things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father” (see My Gospel Standards).

6. Your body is a temple, bought with a price • Our bodies were created in the image of God. They are a gift from Heavenly Father to allow us to experience mortality and continue to become more like Him. This knowledge influences the way we treat our bodies and how we feel about Heavenly Father and ourselves. When we treat our bodies as temples of God, we obtain physical, emotional, and spiritual blessings. • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

7. “It’s my body, I can do what I want” • “Interestingly, I have heard many people, both outside and inside the Church, declare, “It’s my body and I can do to it what I want.” The correct doctrinal response to such a statement is quite simple. No, your body is not your own; it is on loan from God. The choices we make about the use of our personal temples will affect us throughout all eternity.” Elder David Bednar

8. Carefully Consider… • “Our physical bodies indeed are temples of God. Consequently, you and I must carefully consider what we take into our temple, what we put on our temple, what we do to our temple, and what we do with our temple. And we can learn a number of important lessons by comparing the Church’s temples to our physical bodies as temples.” Elder Bednar

9. What we take into our temple • Word of Wisdom = Blessings Physical Blessings: Health and strength Free from addictions Alert mind Spiritual Blessings: Ready to receive revelation Companionship of the Holy Ghost

10. What we put on our temple • Do not underestimate the power of your appearance! • “Just as the Church’s temples portray light and an inner beauty through their outward appearance, so we must be thoughtful and careful about how we dress and what we put on our personal temples.” Elder Bednar • Like it or not, other people make judgments about the restored gospel by what they see or feel in you and me. One of the most tragic lines in scripture was spoken by Alma to his errant son, Corianton: “Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words” (Alma 39:11). Elder Bednar

11. What we put on our temple: Modesty Are Your Standards Shrinking? If its too tight, too short, or too revealing it doesn’t fit church standards. Don’t stretch your standards to fit the worlds.

12. What we put on our temple: Modesty Don’t Short Change Yourself! The way you dress advertises your standards. Send the right message!

13. What we put on our temple:modesty Don’t Be A Dummy A mannequin wears whatever the world is selling. Your standards are higher than that.

14. What we do to our temple • “Imagine the reaction you or I might have if we saw defacing graffiti on the exterior of one of our Church’s temples. The very thought of finding such inappropriate markings on a temple is offensive to all of us.” • Brothers and sisters, we must be particularly careful as the fads and fashions of the world entice us to mark or to pierce or to otherwise deface or disfigure our personal temples.

15. But I want to be an individual! • True individuality is the product of spirituality and is not a function of trinkets or ornaments attached to or hanging from parts of our body. The spiritual basis of individuality is never more evident to me than when I worship in the house of the Lord and everyone is dressed in similar white clothing, looking essentially the same. In that setting, no fads or fashion statements are necessary. The unity and outward sameness of appearance in the temple permits the individual spirit to shine through. That, brothers and sisters, is the only type of individuality that really matters. Remember, our bodies are not our own; they are on loan from God. Elder Bednar

16. What we do with our temple • The temples of our Church are built and dedicated to accomplish righteous purposes. Our bodies are no different. • “Please, never say: ‘Who does it hurt? Why not a little freedom? I can transgress now and repent later.’ Please don’t be so foolish and so cruel.

17. Why not a little freedom? • Why? Well, for one reason because of the incalculable suffering in both body and spirit endured by the Savior of the world so that we could flee (see D&C 19:15–20). We owe Him something for that. Indeed, we owe Him everything for that. ‘Ye are not your own,’ Paul says. ‘Ye [have been] bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s’

18. What would happen? • What would happen if we truly treated our bodies as temples? The result would be a dramatic increasein: chastity, modesty, observance of the Word of Wisdom, And a similar decreasein: pornography and abuse We would regard the body, like the temple, as a sacred sanctuary of the Spirit. Just as no unclean thing may enter the temple, we would be vigilant to keep impurity of any sort from entering the temple of our bodies.

19. Your body is a temple • “Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth”