Parallels: Home and Spiritual Renovation—Routine Maintenance

(This is part of a series on what I learned through the process of renovating our home, and the parallels to a life yielded to and experiencing God’s work in renovating our life and spirit)

After home renovations are finished there can be a tendency to think the work is over. For sure, renovations look beautiful and are meant to be enjoyed and used. However, we live in a world where dust spreads and accumulates, spills happen, lightbulbs burn out, kitchens get dirty, and bathrooms need disinfecting. Regular cleaning and maintenance are required or else the home renovations we worked so hard to complete will lose their luster and usefulness.

Dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, and washing are a necessary part of the ongoing work of renovation. When I view cleaning as ongoing home renovation —a renewal of our house—then it’s a little easier mentally to make time to do the work.

I’ve found that delayed cleaning jobs can accumulate and seem like tall mountains I have to conquer. For that reason, I try to do a little cleaning and maintenance each week. The fringe benefits of this approach are: 1) More satisfaction and enjoyment of our house: 2) Less mental stress over unclean areas and required maintenance; and 3) More time to do other things.

There is a unique parallel with home maintenance and maintaining our spiritual life.

We live in a world where the dust and dirt of a messy world can cloud our thoughts, emotions, and spiritual perspective.  It’s easy to be in such a hurry that we race past moments with God in prayer, Bible reading and reflection, worship, and time with other Christ-followers.  When we fall into that trap, we risk becoming vulnerable to the toxic spiritual forces that swirl around us.

I have found that prioritizing my time and relationship with God on a daily and weekly basis keeps me more spiritually fresh and renewed.  Making the choice to start each day with God, allocating moments with Him throughout the day, and turning to Him each night is an easy starting point to keeping and promoting spiritual health.  Finding a healthy church home to worship God, as well as grow and connect with other believers is also important to staying resilient in this turbulent world.

The fringe benefits of this approach are beautiful: greater peace in our soul, mind, and heart, more clarity in life, and improved fruitfulness in our relationships and work.  

Beyond simple spiritual maintenance, prioritizing time with God is an investment in becoming—more and more—the person He created you to be. Here’s how the apostle Paul put it:

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
(2 Corinthians 3:18)

Here’s to your spiritual renewal and transformation!

God bless you.

Chris Atkins