Sorry to have been MIA for the last several months! I’m drafting posts of insights I’ve had over that time and will publish them shortly. But in the meantime, let me share something current…from the last 12 hours.

Last night as I read 1 Corinthians 3, I noticed a progression in Paul’s ideas that I hadn’t noticed before. I usually focus on verse 16 and quote it as a stand-alone idea: “Know he not that ye are the temple of God?” as if we (my usual interpretation of “ye” is my physical body) are already temples and merely need to maintain them. Reading verse 16 in context with the previous verses added a new dimension to my understanding.

I began to see in chapter 3 a larger vision of earthly growth and development. Paul establishes the starting point of human existence in verse 3, an initial stage of carnality from which we are meant to pursue the spiritual existence Paul preaches in Romans and Corinthians. Building a Christian character, worthy to inherit eternal life requires a foundation. Paul identifies how he and fellow missionaries helped the members lay a foundation for their lives through baptism. This foundation is Jesus Christ (v. 11). Paul then counsels them to build on that sure foundation.

But how and what the members (us) build on this foundation is critical (v. 10). As I approached verse 16, I began to see that Paul is describing a lifelong process of personal refinement through righteous living (“every man’s work” v. 13-15): honesty, fidelity, integrity, Christian service—much what he also counseled to the Roman church members. The end result of our efforts, Paul suggests, is more than just a spiritual existence (in contrast to the carnal). We become temples. Think about the adjectives you would use to describe a temple: Holy, sacred, consecrated, dedicated, clean, pure, sanctified. What amazing qualities to identify the sum of our lives, character, and bodies––and what an amazing reward (v. 13)!

I wanted to share Paul’s metaphor with my children in a way that they could understand and see the beauty in Paul’s teaching. This morning we sat on the floor together and brought Paul’s metaphor to life with blocks and pom poms.

We first built our foundation while one child read verse 11: Jesus Christ is the foundation. We discussed how baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost are essential ordinances for building this foundation. I reminded the kids of the good choices Paul encouraged the Romans to make which we had discussed for Family Home Evening on Sunday. As we identified righteous choices (including deeds and behavior) we added blocks.

As Paul reminded the Roman saints, we “all come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The kids and I talked about bad choices that we all sometimes make (e.g. telling a lie, fighting with each other, judging others) and added pom poms to our structure. We then added more blocks for good choices, watching as our structure fell apart and resisted completion. This was a great opportunity to talk about repentance: asking for God’s forgiveness, stopping the wrong behavior, and making more good choices.

As we continued building I had one of the kids read, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” We discussed the importance of keeping our bodies and spirits clean and pure through righteous choices and behavior. We eventually built a beautiful structure, firm on its foundation.