I’m a clean freak…
Here’s a fun fact about me: I’m a clean freak. I absolutely hate clutter, junk, dirt, grime- all of it. I love cleanliness, and I love to be clean. You’ll likely find me cleaning my house when I’m not teaching my kids. I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but I cannot sit down and enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning if there’s clutter, crumbs on the floor, a sticky kitchen table, and dirty dishes in the sink. I know it’s weird. I’m weird. Whatever. But I just thought you should know this about me.
But I have kids, and anytime you have kids, there’s bound to be some clutter somewhere. I have had to learn to be still and know that God knows this gets under my skin, and I know that He will work it all out for good. And He has. I’ve learned a thing or two. When I see the clutter, I take a deep breath, remain calm, and walk away. Easy peasy. And I’ve learned a little secret; just shut the door.
Clutter is not my favorite…
I don’t like clutter, but I’ve learned to embrace it. It comes with having a big family, but there’s something about aclean, fresh-smelling home that makes you feel good. When your house is clean, you enjoy it and want everyone to visit and enjoy it with you.
So I clean. I try not to overdo it, but sometimes, I go overboard. What can I say? I am the woman who watches all the fascinating YouTube videos on “cleaning hacks.” I bet you didn’t see that one coming! Who knew there were so many different ways you could clean the toilet? Bathrooms are my favorite. Please, I want and need a clean bathroom in Jesus’ name.
And as I diligently and meticulously take the time to clean my home—dusting the furniture, wiping every baseboard, washing the walls, cleaning the windows and window sills, washing mirrors and sinks, scrubbing the shower and bathtubs, washing clothes, and mopping floors—God, in His excellent way—His loving way, His correcting way—reminded me that my home isn’t the only thing that’s dirty and needs cleaning. So, while ensuring my home looks immaculate to impress the masses (my husband and kids), I must direct that cleaning spirit towards this heart of mine. Oh, man. Those are hard words to hear. But I needed to hear them. Yes, my heart needs a good deep cleaning, and so does yours.
Our dirty hearts…
I’m dirty. You’re dirty. And I’m gonna take my chances and guess that probably no Christian would ever post “I’m dirty” as their Facebook status. Yeah, I didn’t think so. And I’m not talking about, you’ve been in the garden all day… dirty. I’m talking about you- your person, your heart. Out of all the things I’ve heard some Christians post as their Facebook status, “I’m dirty,” is not one of them.
Why is that? Well, the Bible explains it for us.
“All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.”- Prov. 16:2
There’s our answer. We don’t look at the things that we do—all of our ways—as dirty. It’s not what we naturally see about ourselves. Our instinct is to justify ourselves and see our ways as pure, right, and clean.
However, when it comes to others, we become experts at locating the dirt in their lives. We know everybody’s messy business, sins, and flaws thanks to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and the latest gossip. Not only do we know their business, we get together in a group with our favorite “clean” people, with a cup of our favorite coffee, and discuss how dirty our peers are. We mock. Laugh. Jeer. Condemn. Never once considering ourselves and our own personal pile of dirt.
We can’t see ourselves…
We can’t see our own filthiness. We’re too busy thinking we’re clean. Imagine the lead gossiper in the group stopping mid-gossip and saying, “Hey, instead of talking about her and how dirty he/she is, let’s talk about me and how dirty I am.” Ha! That would never happen, right? I would like to be a fly on the wall in that room.
We really need to pay more attention to ourselves. None of us have immaculate, dirt-free lives. Just because your Mama thinks you’re clean doesn’t mean you are. And just because your friend tells you you’re amazing doesn’t mean you’re clean.
Now that we’ve burst all the bubbles. Let’s get to what’s real.
Facing reality…
We are self-deceived when we think that how well we do the Christian life or the fact that we may not have engaged in gross sins like others makes us morally superior to other Christians. We are self-deceived when we think that our perfect church attendance, faithful Bible reading, and following all the “rules,” making us look good on the outside, means we are clean. We’re not. The Bible says…
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags.”- Isaiah 64:6
The reality is, we’re all dirty, y’all. And I know it’s not what you’re used to hearing, but you gotta hear it. And the only One who knows how filthy we really are is God. The last part of that verse in Proverbs 16:2 says, “But the LORD weigheth the spirits.” Pay attention to those first few words… WE ARE ALL. ALL includes everybody. That’s me, and that’s you. Even the good we try to do is unclean and polluted.
Dirty like the world…
See, we’re dirty y’all. Unfortunately, the same dirt that’s out there in the world creeps its way into our hearts and lives, too.
Those folks in the world lie… Christians lie
They gossip… Christians gossip
They slander… Christians slander
They fornicate… Christians fornicate
They commit adultery… Christians commit adultery
They hate people. They’re prejudiced… Christians hate people and are prejudiced
They’re prideful… Christians struggle with pride
They worship idols… Christians worship idols
They disobey their parents… Christians disobey their parents.
And the list goes on and on.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” I John 1:8
But we don’t have to stay dirty…
Here’s the thing: We get disgruntled at the world and want to tell it how dirty and messy it is. And I agree—the world is definitely filthy, vile, and disgusting. But, that’s what the world is. We should not be surprised. But we Christians need to get just as disgruntled with the dirt in our own lives. You know, we don’t have to stay dirty. We can deal with our dirtiness. We won’t because we don’t think we are or we don’t think we’re as filthy as someone else.
Dirty hearts need Jesus…
One of my hardest things for me, is to go to God about myself. But there’s no way I can accurately evaluate myself. So I must go to Him, because He knows everything about me. And if I ask God to show me what’s in my heart, I know He will do it. I cringe and wait for the response, because I don’t naturally like to hear what’s wrong with me. But I can guarantee He will show me.
If I ever want to grow up in my Christian life, I must learn to make it a habit to always go to God about me and learn to hear and see the ugly things that are in my heart that shouldn’t be there. So when the Holy Spirit nudges me and reminds me it’s time to clean house, meaning my heart and life, it does me good to listen. And it will do you good, too.
Let me encourage you today to get your eyes off others and humble yourself before God.
Ask and ye shall receive…
Ask God to show you who you really are and how dirty you are. He’ll show you. Right? Ask, and ye shall receive? Don’t ask Him to show you your friend’s dirt or your enemy’s big pile of dirt. Look inward at your own heart. Be ready because you may discover dirty things lurking in your heart that you didn’t even know existed.
I don’t know one lady who doesn’t look in the mirror sometime during the day. Let’s keep it real- I know you- several times a day. And why do we do that? We want to ensure we have nothing out of place—hair, makeup, clothes. We should do the same with our spiritual life. If we don’t spend time looking in the mirror of God’s Word, we’ll stay dirty and move further away from God.
I pray that we, as Christian women, will spend more time asking God to show us ourselves and less time looking for the dirt in others. Let’s get clean so we can draw close to God, move forward, and grow in our relationship with Him.
Love and hugs,
Terrie
I’m not perfect. I’m perfecting.
