THE REMODELING PHASE IS UGLY

In 1995 Joe and I moved into our home. When we bought the house, it hadn’t been updated in forever, so remodeling the whole house was a necessity before we moved in. But, as much as I like buying new clothing and constantly updating my wardrobe…I don’t do the same with my house. The remodeling phase is ugly, and I hate having to go through the process

With clothing, I don’t mind having yardsales or donating and giving away things that I don’t wear anymore to purge items from my closet. But, when it comes to household items, I take the attitude, “it is working, so why change it?” Another one of the reasons that I don’t like updating and changing things in my house is that everything has to be torn apart before it can be put back together.

This past week, I finally decided to have the entire inside of my house painted. Everything in my house has been dark colors, and I loved the lighter gray of my office so much, I decided to paint the entire house that color. The foyer and hallways, two of the bathrooms, and two bedrooms have all been painted. Everything looks so bright and fresh, and I am so thrilled with the way that everything looks.

As thrilled as I am with the new paint color in the rooms, I am equally as aggravated at the existing decorations that were previously in those rooms. Nothing looks right, it all looks cluttered and dark. So, I have been dragging out all of the stuff that needs to change. And, I am busy playing on Pinterest, shopping on Amazon, and trying to figure out what new things I need. But, for now, I’ve got a HUGE mess.

I know that the outcome of my decisions and labor will result in something much better than what I previously had, but the remodeling phase is ugly. All I see are previous bad decisions and flaws. It is overwhelming trying to figure out how to put everything back together, but not make the same mistakes.

I am looking at remodeling a room or two, but the same could be applied to our hearts and our lives. I don’t know about you, but I have areas of my life that are dark, there are parts of my life that are filled with clutter, and I know that to get to where I want to be, I need some remodeling to take place.

Evaluation Phase

Whether you are remodeling a room or your life, you need to evaluate what needs to be changed. This phase is just as hard as the remodeling phase because it forces us to be honest with ourselves. It doesn’t matter what others think of you if you know deep down that you are harboring ill feelings, that you are greedy, dishonest, a cheat, or are only going through the motions of being a Christian.

Remodeling Phase

One of the things that I’ve been praying lately is for the Lord to do surgery on my heart. I am asking him to reveal to me areas that I might not even be aware of that need some serious attention. Then, I am asking him to cut it out of my heart, to rid me of the dark spot that can spread if left inside.

John 15:2

² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

I can imagine the branches of my heart piling up on the ground. There are branches of pride, branches of gossip, branches of greed, branches of lies, branches of laziness, and so many more piles that is sad to think that all of that was in my heart.

Every builder and decorator knows that before the house can be put back together, all of the crap has to be swept up and hauled off. Every farmer knows that before you can have a good crop flourish, you have to pull the weeds and burn them so that they can’t continue to strange out the roots of the good plants.

New Phase

Once the old has been swept up, carted off, or burned away, we can start again fresh. Everything will be clean, fresh, and ready to once again be filled up. The old is gone and the new awaits.

Ephesians 4:22-24

²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Putting away the old ways sounds wonderful. But, if we don’t create new attitudes, then we will find ourselves falling back into old habits. Now is the time to put on the new self, and pray to become more Christ-like, holy, and righteous. I can’t wait to see how my rooms turn out, but I am more thrilled that my heart is clutter-free.

To God Goes The Glory!
Have A Blessed Day!