Spiritual Laundry

Recently, I’ve been reading through a reading plan on my Bible app, called “21 Days in the Gospel of John with Levi Lusko”. One of my latest readings was titled “Clean Often”^[1]. A couple of things stood out to me and spoke to me from the day’s reading. The overall message was about cleaning our lives up. I took notes in my journal and labeled my notes for the day “Spiritual Laundry”.

Fish analogy

My first takeaway from the devotion was about how God meets us where we are. God doesn’t need us to get cleaned up before we come to Him. Salvation does that for us. This was not a new concept for me. I’ve heard it and even said it myself before. What was new, however, was the analogy that Pastor Lusko used. If you know me, you know I love analogies!

He said, “…God cleans His fish after He catches them.” 🙂 I love this! It’s an especially fun and fitting analogy considering Jesus calls his disciples (and us) to be fishers of men.

“His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” Luke 5:10 (NLT) 

God cleans His fish after He catches them. –Levi Lusko

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Spiritual laundry–God is the laundromat or the dry cleaner

For the spiritual laundry aspect, we can look at this concept as though God is the launderer or the laundromat. We wouldn’t wash our clothes BEFORE taking them to a laundromat or a dry cleaner. That’s the whole point of taking them there! They have the special equipment and cleaners necessary to get our clothes clean.

Likewise, we don’t need to clean up our lives and wash our spiritual laundry before being able to approach God. He has the special equipment and “cleaner” necessary to remove the dirt, grime, and stains from our life.

The removal of sin, a clean life, requires a blood sacrifice. We cannot do this on our own…and we don’t need to because Jesus already did this for us. God sent his only son, Jesus, to live a clean and sin-free life and to then to give his life for us in order that we might then be clean. Jesus’ blood is our stain remover.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

“He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” Titus 2:14 (NLT)

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7 (NLT)

We don’t have to be afraid of letting our flaws show. God won’t leave us dirty. When we come to God and accept His gift to us which is His son Jesus, He cleanses us. Then, we can approach God as clean through the blood of Jesus. 

Spiritual laundry–stain removal

Another aspect of this spiritual laundry concept is that of stain removal and staying clean. The devotion stated, “As with cleaning any stain, time is of the essence—the longer it sits, the worse it gets. Don’t let things accumulate and harden and calcify. Clean often.”

This was a reminder to me to deal with stuff in my life often and on a regular basis. I need to be regularly listening to God to see areas where I might be missing the mark. I need to do “spiritual laundry” on a regular basis so stains don’t set in, and so I have clean, fresh clothes to wear each day. As the devotion says it, “Let Jesus spot clean your heart daily.”

One way I do this is to start my day and my quiet time with this verse as a prayer to God:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

Then I add:

“…Speak, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 (NLT)

Then I stop and take time to listen.

Then if anything comes to mind, I immediately confess that to God and repent, remembering the verses mentioned previously about Jesus cleansing me and adding:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NLT)

Spiritual laundry–Clothe yourselves…

Lastly, I remembered that the Bible uses a few instructions about what we are to “put on” or clothe ourselves with. These are examples of our clean, fresh clothes that should be a regular part of our wardrobe. Oh…and by the way, they are stain resistant! 🙂

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” Colossians 3:10 (NLT)

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)

“Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.” Romans 13:14 (NLT)
“Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.” Isaiah 52:1 (NLT)

“Put on your new nature, created to be like God–truly righteous and holy.” Ephesians 4:24 (NLT)

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:13-18 (NIV)

Take Some Practical Steps to Do Your Spiritual Laundry:

• First, you don’t need to get your life cleaned up before you come to God.

Remember—God cleans His fish after he catches them! He has the proper equipment, tools and cleaners to clean you up, but you have to come to Him first. Jesus blood is what removes anything unclean out of your life. Nothing else will work. No effort of your own will ever make you clean.

• Next, approach God for a regular spiritual laundry cleaning regimen—Do a regular heart check with God.

Pray daily: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

Then: “…Speak, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 (NLT)

Then stop and take time to listen. If anything comes to mind, immediately confess that to God and repent, remember the verses mentioned previously about Jesus cleansing you and ask God:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NLT)

• Finally, clothe yourself with a godly, stain-resistant wardrobe.

Put on your new nature, the presence of the Jesus, strength, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, and the full armor of God (truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, word of God, and prayer).

Do you need to do some spiritual laundry? Which of these has been the most helpful for you? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

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If you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward!  Share this post via the sharing links below.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

1. Lusko, Levi. “21 Days In The Gospel Of John With Levi Lusko: Clean Often (Day 13).” Bible.com, YouVersion, www.bible.com/reading-plans/4351-21-days-in-the-gospel-of-john-with-levi-lusko. ↑