You are not your own

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body. I Corinthians 6: 20

It is very unfortunate that this week there have been pictures of a naked Prince Harry on the internet and now in one of the national newspapers. Everyone is saying he should be given privacy and he is just a young man on holiday enjoying himself with his friends.  However Prince Harry is not just a young man on holiday; he is a prince of the realm. No doubt he is very embarrassed and angry at the friend that took and then sold the photographs. Trust has been broken but for Prince Harry it is more than personal embarrassment, he has embarrassed the Royal Family. I am sure there will have been an apologetic phone call to the Queen.

In the same way, we too as Christians, do not have the liberty to behave in any way we choose.  Not only can it bring personal embarrassment but it also brings Christians and even more importantly the Lord Jesus into disrepute. Jesus death on the cross which has saved us and means we will spend eternity with him, is much more than that; it changes our lives. The power of sin is broken and we no longer want to live the old way. However, sin still has its grip on us and it takes time to break the power of old habits and old ways of thinking but Jesus is in the business of transformation.

God wants to transform our lives but it takes our co-operation. Too many Christians are happy to live with old sinful habits, ungodly beliefs bound by fear and rejection and the devil would like us that way too.  It keeps us bound and ineffective and a poor witness. The Holy Spirit is there to help us and work powerfully in and through us. We need to be active participants in our transformation seeking God’s help to be turned into the likeness of Jesus which is God’s desire.

Prince Harry will almost certainly grow out of some of this foolish behaviour but it will dog his life as he will always be in the public eye. We too need to go on to maturity, leaving behind our sinful ways and thoughts. We may not be in the public eye as Prince Harry is but our witness to our circle of friends and family is just as important. Let’s honour the Lord Jesus with our lives in all we do.