Note: This lesson was actually delivered back in May, but I was absent from services that day. The speaker sent me his notes a while ago, and I'm finally getting this one up.
Whenever the months of April and May roll around, we start looking at ways we can do some spring cleaning. When do we take the time, however, to spring clean our spirits? While you’re cleaning out closets, sweeping under the furniture, think about this – spring cleaning, while certainly worth the effort, is temporary, but spiritual cleaning could have an eternal influence. Don’t only dust behind those book shelves, then. Dust off those spiritual goals, and get ready for a spiritual spring cleaning.
Steps to a Cleaner Spirit
Step 1 – Cleanse Our Hearts
The Bible encourages us to draw close to God & allow our hearts & bodies to be cleansed. This is the 1st step in our spring cleaning project. Psalm 51:10 calls on God to clean our hearts and renew our spirits, and Hebrews 10:22 encourages us to draw near to God, with hearts and bodies cleansed of guilt. We can’t clean ourselves. Instead we must draw near to God & ask him to do the cleansing.
Step 2 – Clean Out Our Mouths
I have had to work on my mouth editing since my days on the radio – not so much with coarse language – but with long years of untactful speech. Spiritual cleansing requires deep cleaning – it is housekeeping that goes beyond what others see and hear. It’s a cleansing from within – inside & out. As our hearts gets clean, our language should follow.
This is not only talking about our language, but also about negative conversations and pessimistic thoughts that can contradict the Word of God. This includes challenging ourselves to stop complaining, and this starts with our attitude. Luke 6:45 reads that we produce whatever is stored in our hearts, and Philippians 2:14 exhorts us to do everything without complaining or arguing. That can be tall order, but we can do it if we fix our attitudes.
Step 3 – Renew Our Minds
One of the biggest challenges in this spiritual cleaning is removing the garbage of this world. We must feed our minds & spirits the Word of God instead of the garbage of this world. Romans 12:2 discourages us from conforming to the world. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. II Corinthians 10:5 calls on us to make every though we have obedient to Christ.
Step 4 – Repent from Hidden Sin
Hidden sin will destroy our life and your peace. The Bible encourages us to confess our sins, and, when our spiritual closets are clean, the heaviness from hidden sin will lift.
Remember Psalm 32:3-5:
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day & night our hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you & did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Step 5 – Release Grudges & Bitterness
When we refuse forgiveness, when we bear bitterness and grudges, it is like old baggage in the attic you just can’t seem to part with. We are so familiar with it, we don’t even realize how it is hindering our life. Hebrews 12:1 reminds us to cast aside anything weighing us down, and Ephesians 4:31-32 calls on us to rid ourselves of all bitterness, instead being as forgiving as our Savior.
Step 6 – Involve Jesus In Our daily Lives
What God wants from us most is a relationship – friendship. He wants to be involved in every moment our lives. Through him, we can experience a continual refreshing of our spirits. According to I Corinthians 1:9 – God is the one who invited us into this wonderful friendship with his Son Jesus, and Psalm 56:13 assures us we can walk in God’s presence, trusting Him to keep us from falling.
Step 7 – Enjoy the Journey
Some of us take life to seriously, or we take ourselves too seriously. Jesus want us to enjoy ourselves, and learn to have some fun. God made us for his pleasure. In Psalm 28:7 we see the psalmist leaping for joy and singing praises to His God. He can have the same effect on us.
Conclusion
Cleaning ourselves spiritually begins and ends with our attitude. If our attitudes are strong, then we will be able to commit ourselves to the preparation and work involved in the process. We can choose now whether or not we will continue living in our pasts of sin and regret or push forward to a better future in Christ. Like Paul, we can put our pasts behind us and reach for the upward calling of Jesus’ grace. We just have to take a moment and clean ourselves spiritually. If we even have one day to live, there is good work we can do. We just have to continue pressing forward.
lesson by Mike Mahoney
