House Cleaning

In the spring, summer and fall months the excuse is, "It's to nice of a day to be stuck inside cleaning the house." In the winter when the weather turns cool and wet the excuse is, "It's the perfect day to curl up in front of the fire with some hot chocolate and a good book." 

Are you this person or do you know this person?

To be honest, I am this person. I would rather be outside or doing something other than "house cleaning". 

Now I have some friends who are house cleaners. It use to make me nervous if they came over and I didn't have everything clean but now I figure,  if they want something dusted I'll hand them the duster. (If I can find it.) 

Don't get me wrong. I do like a clean house. I just have a hard time getting motivated to clean it and I always think it should last longer once it's cleaned.

Recently, I've been noticing another type of "House Cleaning" that I struggle with. Wanna guess what that is? 

Stay tuned and if you haven't figured it out by the end I'll tell you. (Or you can just scroll to the end to find out.) 

Picture this,

Your dream house.  

For some that may be a mansion. For others that may be a house just big enough for each of the kids to have their own space. Yet, others may dream of a tiny cabin in the middle of many acres and for someone else that may be an apartment in a big city. 

Whatever your dream house is: 

Picture it fixed up to perfection. The yard is manicured. Everything works as it should. Nothing is broken or missing. 

You move in and you are enjoying your dream home. Everything is going good. Sometimes there may be an issue here or there but you still like your dream house so you learn to deal with it. 

Then one day you notice a friend. 

He's been standing in the shadow for sometime. 

He's been watching as this issue comes up, or as you try to solve that problem yourself. Maybe it's the drippy faucet or the need for new paint. 

Now, as you look at your dream house from your friends perspective you notice the cobwebs that have grown and the dust that has collected. You can now see where you have let down or maybe you put up a new wall or two and, to be honest, they didn't add to the usefulness of the house. 

Your friend stands there waiting. 

All you have to do is ask and he will gladly help you deep clean and remodel to make your house usable again. 

Do you know where this house is? Do you know this friend? Have you ever found yourself stepping back and saying "What happend?"

I have. 

Throughout my Christian walk I have found many times I have had to step back. I have to reexamine where I am and what I'm doing. 

There are three types of reexamination I thought about as I wrote this. (There are probably more but I'm only going to touch on these three.)

1: Comparative Reexamination:

As I think back over the times in my life that I have "reexamined" my life I can see alot of "Comparative Reexamination".  

There were times I would choose "to" or "not to" do something based on others beliefs. I would find myself comparing how well my actions or life lived up to their expectations. As I grew older, and I began to reexamine my own beliefs and understandings, I found myself wanting to be less like others and more like Jesus. 

Sadly, so many times, we want to be accepted so bad that we will change to be more like others instead of more like Jesus. Then, when others stumble, (we all will because we are all human) or change their view, we tend to think Jesus has changed and is not trust worthy. 

This is what I call "Comparative Reexamination". 

We reexamine our lives to align with someone else's beliefs, or views, to be accepted. 

Keeping on track with our house cleaning. 

This "Comparative Reexamination" is when we go to someone else's house and see how seemingly perfect their house is and wish ours could be just like it. (Don't compare! I'm pretty sure they get cobwebs and dust too.)

2: Friend-ly Reexamination: 

Other times we find ourselves reexamining because a good friend has spoken something to us that we think the Lord wants to use to grow us. 

Now you may wonder "What's the difference between "Friend-ly Reexamination" and "Comparative Reexamination"?

The biggest difference, at least that I have seen in my own life, is how it is done. 

Comparative Reexamination starts from the outside and is seemingly forced upon a person or group of people because the speaker or speakers think it's what everybody should do. 

This type of "trying to get people to reexamine their lives" is mostly condemning and usually always hurts during or after. 

Friend-ly reexamination is something that starts on the inside. 

A loving friend approaches you about something they feel may be hurting you or could hurt you in the future. 

This type of reexamination can cause some pain which will usually subside into a deeper friendship. It may also cause conviction vs condemnation. 

(All reexamination should be prayed about by both parties before, during and after the process of reexamining. Any changes due to this reexamining should line up with Biblical Truth regardless of the outcome.)

To continue with our house cleaning scenario:

Friend-ly Reexamination would be like a close friend coming to your house and giving you tips on how to keep the cobwebs and dust at a minimum. You may thank the person for their advice but continue to do things your way. 

3: Godly Reexamination:

This is the best Reexamining a person can do. This is when you feel the Lord tell you, "Check That". 

When you feel this nudge you should always listen.

Sometimes the Lord uses friends to confirm this nudge. 

But again, any change should always line up with the truth of God's Word. 

When God speaks to your heart about a change that needs to take place there may be conviction but there will never be condemnation. 

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

(I encourage you to read all of Romans 8.)

So, to finish up cleaning our house;

Do you know what this house is?

Do you know who this friend is?

If you said this house is your heart and this friend is Jesus then you are correct.  

Jesus is waiting for you to ask him to help you clean up your house. He will help you break down the walls of fear. He will uproot the tree of bitterness. He will give you his joy to shine out the windows of your heart. 

Are you ready to tackle this house cleaning challenge?

Jesus is standing there just waiting for you to say YES. 

(Originally Posted September 5, 2025 on a previous blog I had started)