Dirty Laundry

I am not a morning person and since I am not, my morning routine to leave the house is very regimented, lest I self –destruct. Normally, the last thing I do before telling Todd goodbye and grabbing my purse is take the dirty clothes to the laundry room. One day last week, I had went through my usual morning schedule and it was time to head out for the day. I had my hands full in an attempt to make one trip from that end of the house to the laundry room instead of three, since the laundry room is right by the back door. I had empty hangers, a book, a dirty dish, dirty laundry, and who knows what else in my arms. I put up the hangers, put the dish in the dishwasher, stuffed the book in my purse, grabbed the door knob to step outside, and realized I still had the dirty laundry in my arms. I had even went into the laundry room to hang up the hangers and not gotten rid of that laundry, it seemed perfectly natural for it to be in my arms.

I had taken my shower, gotten all clean, dressed myself in clean clothes, spent time styling my hair (that’s hilarious!), applied my makeup, brushed my teeth, and put on my socks and shoes all in preparation for the day ahead, yet packed DIRTY laundry to the back door, perfectly content to take it with me for the day.

Isn’t that what we do? We go to God, let Him clean us up, spit shine us, beautify us, we even put on shoes ready to sprint out and spread the gospel, but then we choose to pack our dirty laundry with us. We don’t leave it in the hamper and go out free from the baggage in our arms.

“ Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come.” 2Cor 5:16-17

I am not the same person once I am ready to leave the house as I was when I opened my eyes ( thank goodness). The dirt of the day before has been washed away and it’s a new start. I believe that we all really want to be clean, but we continue to pack the dirty clothes with us because we feel like that’s who we are, that’s what we allow to define us. The good news is - if you are in Christ, you are no longer recognized by your dirty laundry, you are all fresh and clean, so stop packing the dirty laundry out with you on a daily basis. Your past no longer defines you; you aren’t wearing those dirty clothes any more. You are a new creation, you’ve got new, clean clothes on today. He never intends for you to wear those dirty clothes again, they have passed away and something new has come. We have to become less attached to what we used to wear and more attached to what we wear now because that’s how the Father recognizes us.

Jesus, please forgive me for making less of your sacrifice by allowing myself to believe I am still who I used to be. I chose today to believe to the depth of my soul what your word says. This is not a matter of empty words on a page, these words are real, alive, and active and you mean this about me. You weren’t wasting your breath when you wrote your words of truth. I am new. The old me is gone and I accept this truth today. I may not always feel new, but I trust what you have said and believe that I am. I thank you for the spiritual dirty clothes hamper and am excited to face this day without a load of dirty laundry in my arms.

Amy Dotson, RPDOTK (Royal Princess Daughter Of The King)