Spring Cleaning

I read in a recent magazine that millennials do not do spring cleaning because they do not have time. That’s interesting. We make excuses for everything. WE claim that we don’t have time to clean, but we have time to argue and bicker on social media. I have noticed that many young people collect various “things;” therefore, they may not do spring cleaning because we have created a society of hoarders.

Before we judge people for having to many material items and having relationships with these items over people and that technology has created this, let’s first realize that we all have to do “Spring Cleaning,” and if we are honest with ourselves, it’s not fun. We don’t like to take the time to do the activities that are not fun.  We have to clean our hearts, minds, and souls of the garbage we have allowed into our lives without the hesitation of getting rid of the garbage. Once we do, we just might have the time to actually clean our homes and not bicker and argue on social media.

Maybe it’s time we get rid of the garbage in our souls. Our souls are suffocating under the barrage of impurities that we allow to remain within them. We judge others so that no one will see us for who we really are because if they see us, they will see that we need some “Spring Cleaning” every day. If we busy ourselves to judge others, then we hide behind our own dirt.

If we concern ourselves with the dirt of others, we can keep our own dirt. Spring Cleaning is about throwing out the old and making room for the new. It means putting order into our disorderly lives. So many of us do not want others to see our disorder, so we comment on the disorder of others. (Notice I put “we” because I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else.)  We want to control those who God has put into our lives to lead because our lives are so out of control. If we control them, we are not leading them, but if we lead them, then they may actually see the messiness of our own lives.

Jesus didn’t go around pointing out everyone’s flaws. People rose to the occasion being around Jesus, his power, his authority, and the way he spoke. I can’t even imagine the conversations Jesus had when he ate with sinners and tax collectors, but I know they were amazing because the woman at the well changed along with Zacchaeus. Jesus was able to speak so that people wanted to get rid of the old and allow the newness of his grace and love into their lives. What if Christians began to influence others the way Jesus did? I can only imagine that society, but there is more. I can be one to start becoming that influence.

It’s spring. It’s out with the old and in with the new. It’s time for all of us to look within ourselves and begin cleaning out the things that are not necessary and filling our minds with things that are a necessity to speak the truth. We have clutter from social media, the news, and people in our lives. Instead of building the clutter, we need to clean up our souls. It may mean removing toxic media or people from our lives. It may mean to be a voice that influences others to come to the love of Jesus. Then, with a clean soul, we can begin to clean our rooms and our homes and bring people into our lives with healthy relationships, and most importantly, the world will see Jesus in us, which is so needed in our world today.