Cleanliness=Godliness



"Cleanliness is next to godliness" is one of those phrases that many people think is from the Bible, but in reality although it does have a similar theme as the Bible, it was probably penned by John Wesley in 1791 when he said in one of his sermons, “Slovenliness is no part of religion but cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.”

Most of the time when I ride with my husband when working on an appraisal the homes are beautifully decorated and well maintained since many of them are multimillion dollar properties. Those are fun to see, but the one we went to inspect a couple of weeks ago was an exception. We should have known what we were in for by glancing through the window of the uninhabited condo. And it was definitely reinforced when we found the lockbox on the back deck that was so cluttered with trash that you could hardly reach the door. However I must admit that I couldn't have imagined what we would see inside the abandoned place.

The once off white carpet was now chocolate brown, the kitchen counters were so filled with trash that you couldn't find a spot to put anything, not that you would even want to for fear of what had been there before, but to see the piles of dirt on the floor was inexcusable. If the place had been rented to a group of twenty-something ski bums it would be awful, but the evidence left behind suggested that children had been living in the residence. No child should have to be exposed to living in conditions like that.

So although the Bible doesn't say much about a clean house or a filthy place I don't think God would approve of people who live in terrible conditions like we experienced. He wants us to care for the place that He provides for us.

What the Bible does tell us about cleanliness is that we need to have “clean hands and a pure heart” Psalm 24:4; we should be “cleansed from our sin” Psalm 51:2 and we are to be “cleansed by the blood of Jesus” Hebrews 9:22

So whether you have a spotless house is not the most important thing; making sure that your life is clean is much more important and that can't happen without having the blood of Jesus to make you free of sin.

 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

www.hearthope.org

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