HELEN SANDERS

10-25-2026

OWNERSHIP

You may own a home, or a car. You might own nice clothing. You might own diamond rings and gold jewelry. You might own a boat and trailer. You might own any number of things, but the question today is this: Who owns you?

The Church at Corinth was filled with those that had previously been idolatrous. They had worshipped various Greek Gods, and also their lives were filled with humanism, which means literally doing what feels good, whether God sees it as sin or not.  Humanism is the worship of self rather than the worship of God.

As these Corinthians became Christians, Paul wrote letters to them giving them instructions. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and 6 he dealt with sexual immorality in the church along with those that had gone to law against each other. This had been a common practice in Corinth, so this behavior had been what most had considered “normal.” 

Paul wrote in chapter 6:19-20 a very interesting statement. It reads: “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.”

Paul is letting the church know that they no longer belonged to themselves! When they GAVE THEIR LIVES to Jesus Christ, he assumed ownership. They no longer were to do what they wanted because Jesus lived within them. They were just the stewards of God’s property.

Look at it this way. If Jesus lives in us and we commit adultery, then we are causing him to live with that sin. Our sin affected Jesus at the cross, and it continues to affect him if we continue in sin, if it is not repented of. 

A good question to ask oneself is this: Would Jesus do this? If you cannot honestly say yes, then do not do it. Remember, we are clothed in HIS robe of righteousness, which means we should live righteously. We no longer own ourselves. We are to be good stewards of our bodies and our spirits. We should no longer desire to sin. We should no longer desire to do what we want. We should desire to please Jesus in every area of our lives, because we belong to him.

Being a Christian is compared to a marriage in Ephesians. We should always want to please the one that we choose to belong to. The difference is this my friends: Jesus would never be a bad spouse. He always looks out for us and never causes us harm. We in turn should live that same way. We should always try to walk in love and be ready to forgive.

The question today is this: Have you given Jesus ownership of your life or are you unwilling to relinquish control?  

Russell and Helen Sanders

Spirit of Life Ministries International, Inc.

www.spiritoflifeintl.org