CHAPLAIN'S CORNER: Not too late for 'Spring Cleaning'

By Chaplain (Maj.) Bill LutzJune 11, 2018

Chaplain (MAJ) Bill Lutz
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BENNING, Ga. (June 17, 2018) -- Check the calendar, because it is not too late for some spring cleaning, at least according to Chaplain (Maj.) Bill Lutz, 316th Cavalry Brigade, in this week's "Chaplain's Corner."

[Editorial note: Summer does not officially begin -- nor spring end -- until June 21, 2018.]

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For many people spring time is a time for new beginnings. I can remember my mother's spring cleaning ritual. Every May the entire house would get a deep cleaning to remove the dirt and dust that had accumulated over the winter months. Every piece of baseboard, door and window trim received a bath. All of the curtains were taken down and washed, and all of the blinds were scrubbed in soapy water. It was a lot of work but after it was all over the house smelled so clean it could pass a white glove inspection.

In the same manner that we give our homes a deep cleaning occasionally we also need to give our spiritual lives a deep cleaning. It is much harder work deep cleaning our souls than it is to deep clean a house, but the rewards are much greater once the cleaning has taken place. The real work takes place as we begin to exam our souls under the microscope of God's Word. We read in Ephesians 4:23, "you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds." As we examine our souls in light of God's Word there will be some dirt and grime in our lives that will need to be cleaned out so that we can live a life that glorifies God.

There will be those items in our lives that will resist being removed or cleaned up, much the same way that dirt and grime resist removal from our houses. For the deeper issues and habits it may take several cleanings to remove them over a period of time. For these deeper issues each time we clean we remove a little more of the set in grime until it is finally removed. The Bible reminds us that we struggle not only against the flesh and blood of this world; but we also struggle in the spiritual realm that we cannot physically see. It is the power of the Holy Spirit of God that enables us to become spiritually clean before God.

Related Links:

Benning News at the Army News Service

Religious Support Office at USAG Fort Benning