Ready to Clean House?

By Sarah Meece−

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!”

 ~2 Corinthians 5:17

At least once a year, I decide I need to clean out my closet. It shouldn’t be a terribly difficult task; just do a quick run-through of all the stuff hanging there and decide whether to keep it or pitch it. The problem for me occurs when I’m faced with that tough question: to keep or not to keep? In an effort to answer that query, I have to ask myself a series of questions:

“Should I give this to Goodwill?”

“Do I know someone who could use this?”

“Will I ever wear this again?”

“Does this still fit?”

And then comes the hardest question,“How can I give this away…it has sentimental value!”

My heart gets into a bit of a turmoil at this point because I have clothes in my closet that have been there for years simply because I just haven’t ever had the heart to part with them. These are things I wore when I was making special memories. For example, my beautiful orange wool blazer, a favorite because that was a school color; I wore it so proudly to many school functions. Or what about that sweatshirt I bought when we were on a family vacation? I thought,”I can’t give that away. I want to hold on to those memories!” But as I walked into the closet, all I saw was clutter and disorganization which tends to aggravate me and stress me out a little. It was time to bite the bullet…I needed to clean! My husband tried to give me some encouragement as he pointed out that I was just making room for some new clothes. Of course, I loved the sound of that suggestion!

By the way, did I mention that my wardrobe occupies multiple closets in our home? Please understand, I am not necessarily a clotheshorse who goes overboard, constantly buying new things. I am simply a clothes hoarder who has a huge collection that includes years and years of fashion. There actually is a difference! But the bottom line was this…it was time to take inventory, clean house, and make room for some new stuff! It was time for a fresh start!

Interestingly enough, our closets can sometimes resemble our hearts and minds. Most of our lives are so full and so busy, it can be difficult to stop and take inventory of our hearts, much less complete the deep-cleaning process. Our mental “closets” can become cluttered with racks of unnecessary and even unhealthy items.

Sometimes we may reach a point when it can be frightening to really examine the “stuff” we have allowed into our spiritual closets—baggage from the past, damaged relationships, destructive friends, broken hearts, unhealthy lifestyles. And because of this “stuff,” our hearts and minds can become entangled with emotions such as bitterness, fear, lust, shame, rejection, and unforgiveness, just to name a few. 

Cleaning out our internal closet is far more important than cleaning our external one, but it can be a complicated and difficult process. Life often causes us to become more enamored with worldly things such as our careers, our finances, our relationships and our success so that we lose sight of our love and dedication to God. Purging those worldly thoughts and negative images will certainly allow us to make more room for God…to give us a fresh start!

If you are like most people, every now and then you might have a desire to change your life and move in a different direction. If we want God to change our circumstances and do something new and exciting in our lives, then we have to be willing to do our part which often includes taking inventory of our relationship with God and getting rid of the unnecessary baggage that clutters our lives and prevents us from having true joy and peace.

Gracious! Cleaning can be hard work and requires diligence and strength, but it will be so worth it in the long run. I challenge you…clean like you have never cleaned before…your heart, that is! Make more room in your “closet” for God! Today is the day…get rid of the old and make room for the new to come pouring into your heart. Allow God to bless you and fill your closet with His love!