When it comes to the tradition of spring cleaning, many are eager to reorganize and get rid of things causing clutter in the home. Without much trepidation, we load up our cars with bags of old clothes, have yard sales, and seek to reset our homes for the year. Yet, before long, we find ourselves with more meaningless things and clutter before the year is out. More and more, I believe that the annual spring clean must extend beyond the walls of our homes and be a time of reflection for our souls. What if we use this as a time to examine ourselves and ask how we can be better versions of ourselves?
From a biblical stance, we are called to take an inventory of our patterns and behaviors. There are countless verses that remind us that our Christian walk was never meant to consist of us simply doing as we choose while knowing that God will save us in the end. Instead, the Lord desires us to live a life that is honoring and holy. Though we will certainly have moments of imperfection, those who have accepted Jesus should desire to live a life that reflects the God whom they serve. Consider the following passages:
"Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord." Lamentations 3:40
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galatians 5:16
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
Yes! The Lord is calling us to seek Him and be willing to change. As we are cleaning our homes this spring, let us also consider the areas of our lives that need to be renovated, cleansed, and removed. With this in mind, here are seven areas that may need to be refreshed this year:
Photo Credit: © Unsplash/Sarah-Dorweiler
1. Your Attitude
Does your attitude reflect your status as a child of God? Here’s a challenge. If the last 48 hours of your life were to be recorded for the world to see, would they know that you were a Christian? Would we observe you rolling your eyes behind a person’s back or talking poorly about others? Would we observe gentleness, compassion, or pride and anger? Phillippians 2:5 says it like this, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” Though Jesus could have been pompous as the Son of God and demanded His own way, He chose humility and service to mankind. His attitude reflected the Father in Heaven.
In the same way, let us clean up our attitudes and make a daily choice to assess if our words and mannerisms glorify God. I have learned that when we desire to clean up our attitudes this will lead to many moments of being silent and apologizing when we say things that are hurtful. Let us be humble enough to embrace this and be led by the Holy Spirit to be corrected. A cleaned-up attitude can positively affect your entire life.
2. Your “Secret” Places
Are there any sinful areas of your life that you’ve been “sweeping under the rug”? Do you struggle with pornography, suicidal thoughts, premarital sex, drunkenness, envy, lust, deception, or greed? These areas may not be seen as easily as your attitude but can cause much damage to your life. These sins may seem to not affect many people, but over time, they can eat away at your soul. It is important to not become content with or see sin as just “my personal vice” but to address it.
It is quite possible that until we resolve these areas, we will never see the growth we want in our spiritual life. Furthermore, the shame of carrying these sins can weigh on us and lead us into isolation and depression. Seek the Lord for how you can overcome the areas of your life that have become a source of pain and embarrassment. Ask the Lord to search your heart and find a person who can hold you accountable through prayer and with Godly wisdom.
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24
3. Your Thought Life
This is a great time to think about what you think! Many of our issues can be drawn back to our state of mind. Do we allow the enemy to speak lies into our identity? Are we focused on what the Lord speaks to us? Fortunately, the Bible has given us a cheat sheet to know how to clean up our thought life.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8
When we clean up our thought life, we will find freedom and peace. We must recognize that when we allow fear, anxiety, irritation, and mistruths to lead our lives, we will find our lives feeling constantly disheveled.
4. Your Friend List
Sadly, the friends we carry around us could be causing more damage than good. Our goal shouldn’t be to eliminate our friends with a sense of urgency. However, we should take an inventory of the people who take up most of our time. Do our close friends lead us toward the Lord or away? Do our friends encourage our sin or motivate us to holiness? Let’s remember the verse that says, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals” 1 Corinthians 15:33.
In other words, there is only a matter of time before your friends' vices become your own struggles. Although we certainly cannot disregard those in our lives who may be struggling spiritually, we must be mindful of times when we are allowing ourselves to be influenced negatively. Overall, we should desire our closest friendships to be with those who draw us closer to Him. Let’s use this spring to take a true examination of our relationships.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/monkeybusinessimages
5. Your Words
Our mouths can be vessels of hope or destruction. James, the brother of Jesus, says it like this, “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be,” James 3:10. In other words, although we may hold the title of “Christian,” our words display the opposite. Sadly, for some people, unless they explicitly told their friends that they were a Christian no one would ever know.
Our words should be carefully examined and reflect the Spirit that we carry. The Bible makes it clear that our mouths can be defiled with cursing, coarse joking, gossip, and deception. Yet, we can use this same mouth to bless our neighbor, speak kind words, and pray for those in need. The choice is ours. I believe when we fail to take an inventory of our speech we will continue to find our lives in disarray.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
6. Your Goals
Are there any dreams and goals the Lord has put on your heart? Have you been stalling on starting your small business, going back to school, or creating a more organized system for your home? This is a great time to rethink areas you may have allowed to “fall through the cracks.” Rather than going along with life as usual, seek to create some tangible, quantifiable, and time-constrained goals.
Perhaps, you can set a goal of registering your business license within the next two months or enrolling in school before the end of the summer. Whatever the case may be, your actions now will set you up for success later. As you’re spring cleaning, use this as an opportunity to reimagine your entire life and work toward bite-sized goals. When we do what the Lord has called us to do, we will not only be blessed, but many others will reap the benefits as well!
7. Your Prayer Life
If prayer has turned into a chore or afterthought, now is a great time to correct this. Prayer should be the heartbeat of every believer. In prayer, we gain wisdom, strategy, insight, peace, and courage. We do ourselves a great disservice when we neglect the importance of communing with the Lord. If truly, you only pray in times of tragedy or not at all, this is a great time to ask yourself how this can change. Perhaps while organizing your house this spring, you can also create a schedule of when you can be quiet with the Lord. This can be a time of prayer, reading through Bible chapters or specific topics, worship, and/or devotional reading.
Whatever the case may be, we see that setting aside intentional time to communicate with the Lord is an important part of the Christian journey. Consider Jesus during his time on earth. He was often found pulling away from the crowd and busyness of ministry to simply talk to His Father in heaven. No matter how clean our lives and homes may be outwardly, our lives will always suffer internally if we fail to have a relationship with the Lord.
Let us use this season to make a radical shift in how we see our relationship with God. As we pray, we will see that the Lord will give us answers to all the other issues at hand from our friend list to our personal goals, to having the right attitude and even the best way to handle the daily clutter of life itself. Let’s pray as if our life depends on it. Because it does.
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Tinnakorn Jorruang
Originally published Friday, 01 April 2022.
