By Emilie Gruben.
Our Practical Post articles tend to focus more on the cleaning and keeping of the home, than the cleaning and keeping of the mind. But really, I think that the latter is more important than how shiny our faucets can be, or how spotless the floors look to guests. Perhaps overlooked more than dishes on a counter, or less than the stench of rotten trash in a bag. The attitude either holds the home up, or tears it down.
Many a morning, I have had a list of chores to get done before the day’s end. I have the energy and motivation, and yet my spirit is angry. Confusion, frustration, sadness, and resentment can creep into our heads and hearts with little to no warning or cause. We are suddenly overcome with lack of motivation or raging emotions that threaten our peace and that of others’. Our tasks are now grueling chores with no life or purpose to keep us driven to finish them. We snap at people when they give us advice on how to do things, or when plans change and we have to adjust to them. Perhaps the mixer is going in the kitchen, and that was just the final straw to test your patience. You yell at your sister and she retaliates. The house is now filled with an angry outburst and the whir of the mixer. The dog barks at the two sources of chaos. Is this pleasing to you? Is it pleasing to God? Could it have been prevented?
This is the average day in my household. No amount of lying or airs being put on could take away from the reality that our lives are, at times. Our attitudes can truly shape the way our days play out. Why is this so? Pr. 18:14-15 reads: “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit? The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
A broken spirit can not sustain those who hold it, much less those who surround it. A house built upon sand-a faulty foundation-will fall to ruin when put under trails and time. Our attitudes will surely do the same if not rooted completely in Christ. The strains of day to day life are not for the weak in body or mind. In order to keep not only level-headed but Christ honoring, we must root ourselves deeply in Him. Col. 2:6-7 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” When our salvation and strength come from Christ, joy and thankfulness is found to be a constant, even in trials.
Much like this is also said in Eph. 3:14, 17. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”
Many of our trials in the home can be solved by selflessness. Less time focusing on how you, personally, would have cleaned the kitchen, or how it was your turn to use the washer but your brother’s laundry is now occupying it. Lack of pride can make kindness and patience all the more simple. Because that is where the chaos of our attitude truly begins. Pride is always before a fall-a stumbling to fault. Pr. 16:18-22 so simply reads “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he. The wise in heart will be called prudent, And sweetness of the lips increases learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly.”
Those who truly seek to find peace in chaos will only be able to find it in Christ. Those who do not seek to be peacemakers are fools. Even when all else falls to pieces, or even your body fails you, your mind will be at peace and understanding with Christ as your guide. This will not only strengthen yourself and those in your home, but be a living testimony to those outside of it.“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing-” II Cor. 2:15
In this way, we are to be Christ’s image to those who surround us. To work our best for God and others without causing strife. Phil. 1:14-16 reminds us: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
Even if our attitudes fall short of holding peace and godly patience, we can have the assurance that our efforts do not go unnoticed. I pray that this post is helpful in a practical sense. A change cannot happen without action. May this be a reminder to always be seeking a godly change in both heart and home.
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