Ugghhh, cleaning house. How many more things I would rather do. Play Nintendo, hang out with friends, read, watch Youtube. Why should I clean this house, and, is it possible to find joy and honor God while scrubbing a toilet? I have found it is much easier to do, and even something to be excited for when you change your perspective into a Biblical perspective. Here are some points I've come up with that help me to change my perspective of cleaning house from a drudgery to an act of worship.
1. It's not your house anyways, because everything you own belongs to God.
Genesis 1:28 tells us that God gave human beings dominion over the Earth. First, He gave it to us. We didn't create it, it is a gift that we borrow. We are reminded of this at funerals when we look at the body and there's that gut wrenching moment when we realize we can't take anything with us. Our parents teach us that when we borrow something like a lawn mover, we return it full of gas and oil. Return whatever you borrow in even better condition than when we borrowed it. How much more should we take care of the things that the creator of the universe and the God of our salvation allows us to have? Most people think about stewardship when dealing with money, but we are stewards of much more than that. "And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the Earth." (Gen 1:28) Take care of what God gives you.
2. An act of service towards your wife
Ephesians 5 is obviously a main passage on marriage, reminding us that we should "love our wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for her." How is cleaning related to this? Well, Looking at Philippians 2 we see that "...Christ Jesus, who, though He was born in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:6-8) By humbling our self, and following Christ's example of servant hood, we are leading and serving our wives. Should we ever think, "I don't need to do that, that's my wife's job." Absolutely not. That is exactly the way of thinking that non-Christians sometimes see from the outside, and thus adds ammunition to their argument on the hypocrisy of our lives. When the disciples were disputing over who was the greatest, Christ says "Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves." (Luke 22:26) Serve your wife, and your family, and do the dishes.
3. In order to serve the Church, you have to first serve your household.
In Timothy, Paul is gives instruction on how to choose leaders. Among the qualifications, he says "He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" (1 Tim 3:4-6) Of course this is obvious for dealing with people, as we know all good managers must manage people well, but I also believe this to charge us with cleanliness and a manageable household. Keep things orderly, and running well in the house that the Lord has blessed you with.
When I think about these things, it is much easier for me to fold the laundry, or wash the dishes, or sweep the floors, water the plants, etc. It's God's stuff anyways, I'm only a steward. I want to serve my wife and family. I want to serve in the Church, so I must first manage my household well.
