I am not sure where the expression, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” comes from. It was not an expression in the household I grew up in but I remember hearing it said and often mocked because it does sound like Mr. Clean is the God we are speaking of (LOL!) The concept itself is not far-fetched but perhaps mis-interpreted. The cleanliness to be in would be cleanliness of heart. In order to love fully an open heart is ideal. In the book of Psalms, King David asked “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” He wanted to draw closer to God and knew that came from within him. I have shared before that there was a time in my life when my heart was filled with much darkness and the night that God called me out to the beach and wrapped his arms around me from behind. I felt as though he was opening my chest and it hurt so bad. But He told me that we needed to open it up and let the darkness out so we could create more room for love. I knew that my heart was cold and hardened by life experiences and what I made them mean. I knew that there was much forgiveness of myself and others that would need to occur for my heart to be restored to its suppleness. I had no idea how that would happen or what would need to occur but that night I was assured that God would stand with me and behind me, I just needed to be willing to walk through the process no matter how painful it might be. What I can tell you is that many years later and lots of forgiveness and letting go, my heart has opened and softened. Pain has a way of making one willing. Feeling blocked off from love has a way of making one willing. This is how I know that we are meant for love and that we are love because when we are not aligned with who we truly are we sense the discord. We try to hide it or cover it up, but ultimately the LOVE of our Creator reaches out from within us and calls our attention to it. The cleanliness is about letting go of old ideas, one at a time, several at a time–recognizing that my way of thinking was no longer serving me or anyone else because it blocked me off from love. My prayer for us today is that we be open to cleaning out one idea from our minds that is keeping love at bay from ourselves and others. Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen
Are you open to creating space for more love today by cleaning out an old idea? Feel free to share your comments by clicking on the number above.
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