Clean Your House

Ephesians 4:31-32

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Have you ever just had the urge to deep clean your house? Do you do a spring cleaning where you go through all your stuff and get rid of what you don’t need? Perhaps you like that new Netflix series Tidying with Marie Kondo where you watch families sort through their stuff and minimize their positions by keeping only what “sparks joy.” This exercise of clearing out the old and unused can be extremely therapeutic.

While we apply this practice of deep cleaning to our homes, we hardly ever think of applying it to our lives. Yet, this is what Paul is saying in this letter to the church at Ephesus. He’s asking them to clean out their lives. Get rid of the old stuff that you don’t need anymore–all that bitterness, rage, anger, fighting, talking about each other, anything that came with your old fleshly way of living. Throw it out! Let it go! Put it in the dump where it belongs. If we leave those old ways of doing things, those old fleshly impulses, in our lives, we won’t have room for the new things God wants to bring out of us.

Clearing out the fleshly junk makes room for the new fruits God planted in us. We have room for kindness and compassion and for forgiveness when we throw out the junk we used to cling to. And all this cleaning is possible because of Jesus Christ. His offer of forgiveness paves the way for us to become new creations. Our new spirits and our new spirit-filled lives have new ways of interacting with the world around us. We are “sparking joy” by becoming more and more Christ-like in our living. So out with the old and in with the new! I promise you won’t miss those stinky grave clothes. So toss them out. And put on the garment of praise and the robe of righteousness that Christ offers you instead.

Father, thank you that through your work at the cross I am made new. My old way of handling relationships, my old way of doing things, is just stinky grave clothes. I don’t need them any more. I don’t have room in my life for things I don’t need and won’t use. Instead, I’m throwing out my old, fleshly way of doing things, and I’m making room for your way. I’m clearing space so the Fruit of your Spirit has room to grow in my life. Help me replace my old, bad habits with new ways of doing things–your way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.