You Are Not Your Own

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

You are not your own. These words have been pounding in my heart and mind for weeks now.  Sometimes they comfort me.  Sometimes they confront me.  Sometimes they anger me. 

When I think about my life, I don't know that I have ever been my "own."  As a child, my parents set the rules, or the school, or a bully, or the "in" crowd.  Events and people molded and shaped me into the person I am today.  I had choices and opportunities, but not the reigns.  I couldn't run as wild and free as I pleased.

When I got older, I got a job.  "With money comes power and freedom," so I thought.  But it also comes with an employer who gives you a whole new set of rules.  If that weren't bad enough, then comes the tax man, insurance agents, etc.  To get the money to drive the car to do the things I wanted, I had to give away more of my self, my time, my life. 

I got married with a year of college left, and I thought now I can live my life.  But apparently, I didn't quite understand the commitment I made.  There was no longer my life (or her life), there was our life.  As the God-appointed head of the household, I was called to die to my desires and meet the needs of my wife.

After several years of building oneness, we decided to bring children into our family.  The introduction of a child into our household, while a blessing, brought great challenges.  Our first daughter, Ellie, was born prematurely with poly-cystic kidneys and in grave health.  She spent over four months in the children's hospital before we got to bring her home.  During the nearly five months the Lord allowed us to have her, she set the schedule.  Sophia, likewise, has stolen the show.

I don't say any of these things in order to complain.  Truly, I have been blessed beyond measures. My parents are great parents that did the best they could to give us a better life than they had.  I married a wonderful woman, who encourages and strengthens me daily.  Ellie's short life and Sophia's joyful presence have made me a better man.  But all of these blessings have come with a cost.  I am not my own, nor have I ever been.

When I say, I have never been my "own," I simply mean that I acknowledge that I am not an island.  Sure, I disobeyed my parents. Sometimes, I'm gruff with my wife and daughter.  I can be selfish and mean spirited, prideful and petty. But I am not what I could have been, if I would have been true to my self.  Had God not permitted the authorities and events that influenced my life, I shudder to think about what I might have become.

The words "you are not your own" should not come as a surprise to us.  Only a sociopath is his "own" person, but even a sociopath is driven by the dark forces of his heart.  The majority of human beings understand that there are limits to their freedom.  We don't pick our birthday or birth parents or the country of origin.  We grow up in a family unit, functional or dysfunctional, which is a smaller version of a larger culture.  We are driven by moral codes, familial obligation, and/or societal pressure.  We may keep these conventions, challenge them, or seek to change them.  But we are never able to totally erase the influences.

Paul's words remind us that we do not belong to ourselves.  As believers, even "American" believers,  we don't have the right to do as we please.  We cannot run as wild and free as we please.  No.  You are not your own.  You have been bought with a price.  Peter states, "Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet. 1:18-19). It was a tremendous price.

While my old nature may chafe at the words, "You are not your own," the new nature that Christ has created in me knows that there is freedom in that statement.  When I honor my parents or serve my wife or instruct my daughter, I living out the truth: I don't belong to me.  I have been freed to serve the Lord, and by serving him I find freedom.  Only as I give my life up, for the glory of God, do I find that I am being true to who God has made me to be.

I find comfort in the fact that I am not my own.  I am the Lord's.  He has purchased we at a tremendous price; he, most certainly, will never disown me.  Because I am not my own, I do not have to pay the price for my sins. Christ has covered them.  Because I am not my own, I do not need my own righteousness. Christ has given me his.  Because I am not my own, I am in an unbreakable fellowship with Christ and his saints.

You are not your own.  How do these words affect you?  Are you comforted? Challenged? Angry? Perplexed?