Do We Really Have To Clean This Again?
Happy Friday everyone!
Every Friday morning, before I start working, I clean the bathroom.
Working a hybrid schedule has been such a blessing since it allows me the flexibility to take care of my apartment the way I want. I don’t know about you guys, but I believe the bathroom is one of those rooms that needs to be deep cleaned weekly, lol. I believe this particular room needs to be deep cleaned often because so much of life goes on in there. We shower there, use the bathroom, put on makeup, etc. Granted, I don’t necessarily love cleaning this room but it must be done. A deep clean to me means removing all of the items that are in that room, dousing it in bleach ( if necessary), Fabuloso and a few other favorite cleaning products, putting on some gloves and scrubbing until I am satisfied.
As I was cleaning the bathroom this morning, I began to cry. I was crying because about a week ago the Holy Spirit revealed to me an issue I have in my heart. It’s a wound I didn’t realize was there. It didn’t come to light until I got into His presence about some anger I was feeling and then He revealed to me the real issue. Because of His kindness and sweet presence, He was gracious enough to let me know an area of my heart that I needed to give to Him. If I’m being honest, it has to do with unforgiveness.
Now if you know me well you know that I am naturally a forgiving person. I don’t like to hold grudges because I personally feel like who has time for it. I don’t like to have unforgiveness because I think it does more damage to the person holding it than anyone else. I also feel like life moves on and so should I. When the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had some unforgiveness in my heart and needed to release it to Him, you can imagine how shocked I was especially since I personally feel I forgive easily or at least I try to.
Throughout this entire week, everyday I have had to ask Jesus to help me to forgive. I’ve had to ask Him through my tears, my anger and even grief to help me to forgive. I’ve had to ask Him to help me repent for having unforgiveness in my heart and for holding on to it. I’ve thanked Him for showing it to me, but that wasn’t enough. If I was going to do this well, then I needed to remove everything that was in that area of my heart and scrub it clean, the same way I clean my bathroom.
As I was crying, praying and cleaning my bathroom (see women are multitaskers lol), I couldn’t help but think about Matthew 18: 21-22. Those verses say, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord now many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Forgiveness is like deep cleaning the bathroom. It is something that must be done often. Forgiving is probably something you have to do daily. Not because people are purposely trying to hurt you, but because life happens, offenses happen, and to live life whole in Christ and in general, our hearts should be cleaned often. I’m learning in this very real process that forgiveness isn’t easy but I believe it’s worth it. It’s worth the hope and freedom in your spirit, heart and soul. It’s worth the scrubbing because at the end of it, it’s clean.
Something that I have been praying is “Lord you are the ultimate master at forgiveness, so teach me. You are a great teacher, so teach me. You are a wonderful leader, so lead me. I need your help! Help me do this! Help me even show compassion when it’s all over. I trust you and I love you.”
