In the back of my Bible I have notes I made over 1o years ago. It is under the title "Cleaning House" and it is not in reference to actually cleaning it. Instead, I had read some excellent material regarding cleaning out our home of things that do not please the Lord. Things that He even deems detestable. I used these verses as I went through our family inventory:
"I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing." Psalm 101:3
"Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor it and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction." Deuteronomy 7:26
"Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Corinthians 7:1
"Dear children, keep yourself from idols" 1 John 5:21
"The Lords curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous." Proverbs 3:33
"I will be careful to lead a blameless life--when will you come to me? " Psalm 101:2
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phillipians 4:8
These verses aided me as I went through things such as:
1. Books, magazines
2. Art, personal pictures
3. Videos
4. Music
5. Toys
6. Miscellaneous (or things the Lord points out to you, that you would otherwise miss)
7. Anything immodest
8. Inappropriate clothing
I looked for evil themes, suggestive themes, anything that was anti-God in philosophy and I must tell you that 14 years ago I threw out tons of bags of things. Things that I never even thought I would throw out, got thrown out! Did I miss those things? Not one bit! And what I found even more interesting was that it felt great to do it, like a burden lifted off of me and my home. Now we were 'free' to start over---my daughter (only Janai) at the time would not have to be subjected to all the things the Lord would not want her to be through things in her home---the place where she was to be nurtured and cultivated into God-fearing adult. Now she wouldn't grow up in an atmosphere that would work directly against what we were trying to sow into her life.
I replaced all those things with what would inspire---dolls that were modest, music that exalted God, clothes that suggested purity and were feminine, books that taught character, challenged the mind and supported Scripture, movies that were educational. Things that even reminded me of my sinful past I threw out---I was no longer that person anymore--I was a new creation in Christ and I was going to begin this new journey 'fresh' with Him.
It took several months to thoroughly go through everything, this is still something that needs to be done periodically because somehow little things still find their way in. But I am so happy the way things are now, I would never go back to the way we were. I continually strive to make our home a place that honors the Lord by guarding and 'cleaning' my house. I believe if we are faithful in this type of 'house cleaning' along with our daily household management, and watching over other area's that Proverbs 31:27 is accomplished in it's fullest and God-glorifying sense:
"She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness."
12 comments:
I cleaned out our movie collection a few months ago. I thought it was a fairly sparse collection as it was, but the kids will be big enough soon to go to the "back" so, there no longer is a "back". It felt good.
This article comes at a wonderful time for me.
This last Christmas, our 5 year old was given a "Hannah Montana" barbie doll from a relative. We had never seen the show before, but we were able to as they also gave her a DVD.
Were we in for a surprise! My husband has NEVER liked the idea of our daughter playing with barbies. He and I agreed on that from the beginning. He was even more upset to find a little 13 year old girl kissing her "boyfriend" on this show. We knew nothing of the show except that it was a "hit" with the world's kids (and some of our Saved friends as well).
I do have a question for you, though. We have talked with his family about the kinds of gifts our daughter can receive and what is inappropriate for her. We didn't even think to mention barbie dolls because it seemed so obvious to us that it's a little pin-up doll. When we talked with them, they were disturbed that they couldn't just get her whatever they wanted. They asked, "Well, do we also have to ask you before hand if it's okay?" We said that they didn't but to just think modestly. Apparently, that was the wrong conversation.
How do you think we should approach this issue again? Not all of my husband's family are believers, either. So explaining to them something like this list wouldn't really help them, I don't think. It would be sad to have another Christmas for her where the gifts she has given to her are only going to be thrown away (taking them back to the store only to be bought for some other innocent girl seemed hypocritcal for us). We would like for her to enjoy the gifts she gets from family, being appropriate.
Dear Mrs. Gunning,
Great to hear from you again--hope all is going well from the last time we were able to connect.
As for your question, I would definitely bathe this one in prayer especially considering they are unbelievers as we always want to be a light to them.
Perhaps for Christmas this year you could get together with your family and give them some suggestions letting them know your daughter would just love to get 'such and such' for Christmas--many times family will offer to buy it and let you know beforehand. Something we have done for our families (not every year though) is compile a list of what the child would like--looks something like this:
1. Legos
2. craft kit
3. doll house accessories
Then we would have a grab-bag and pull names, the list would help guide us as we shopped(and not waste money buying something they didn't want). It always helped when we used this list method.
Hope that helps!
Many blessings...
I just wanted to thank you for your blog. You always have something so timely to say, and I can just see your heart in your posts. I am a SAH, homeschooling mom of three girls 7, 4, 2 1/2. Sometimes the things that you say seem like they came straight from my mouth! Thank you again! God bless you!
I love your blog! I rarely comment, but I always enjoy your posts. I am making a note of these verses and passing them on to my daughter and friends. Blessings!
Giveway on my blog today!
Thank you for this wonderful post! We, too, have gone through and cleaned things out, but they certainly find their way back in! Both grandmothers give our girls Barbies, even though we have expressed several times what kind of dolls we want them to play with. Fortunately, the girls are mature enough to understand that the Barbies will not be part of our "family" of dolls. It is difficult, though!
Blessings,
Marqueta
beautifully written post! thanks for sharing....
I just wanted to let you know this post has so much encouraged me these past few days since playing catch up on your blog posts. I wanted to let you know I did a post about it on my blog over at homesteadblogger as I know it can be encouragement to others, I hope you dont mind, please feel free to swing on over to make sure the excerpts I have taken from this post are ok with you... Have a blessed day.
Thank you so much for your post!
~Susan
Did you get rid of your tv when cleaning house? I've debated doing this for years.
When you went through the house and got rid of all the ungodly things did you put them in the trash? I have found books etc that bothered me and taken pages out so messing up the books and putting them in the recycle or trash. Or even putting them inside a bag and then into the trash so no other person will read it. It really worried me that someone would pull it out and try to read them. I had gotten a couple books thinking the stories were good classics and to my surprise they were trash even if old stories. JoAnna
nice.. .
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