Do you have a day of the week when your trash gets collected? Is there a different day for your recycled stuff? Does the schedule get adjusted when there’s a holiday like Christmas or Labor Day? Do you have to do anything special to get your trash ready to be collected, such as separating things into different groups? Do you set aside organic waste for composting?
It’s interesting to think about trash, waste, recycling, repurposing, reusing, decomposition, etc. We can think about these things on our home front but they’re also important in our computers, parks and trails, bus stops, mass transit and lots more places. If we don’t have a place to put our trash, then things get trashy. If we don’t deal with our trash, it can pile up and become not only a nuisance but also a health hazard, to say nothing about the smell and unsightly vista. So, trash management is important.
It’s not only important for our daily living in communities, but in our living situations and maybe most important of all, in our souls and hearts. In relation to our souls, it’s important to do regular trash removal, repurpose trash in the form of pain or trauma and do some occasional deep cleaning.
What could these activities look like in our souls and what does the Bible have to say about these actions? For starters, as we think about regular trash removal pertaining to our soul, I’d suggest that some of the trash that could build up over the course of a week could include unforgiveness, poor disciplines / habits, yucky attitudes, poor entertainment choices and rude or unkind words and actions, along with other trash.
Ephesians 4:31-32 could help us in thinking about doing regular trash removal. In these verses, Paul tells us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Additionally, we would be wise to consider ways to repurpose trash in the form of pain and trauma that we’ve experienced so it can bring healing and redemption. To this end, consider what Joseph said to his brothers when they were concerned that he would take out vengeance on them for selling him into slavery. In Genesis 50:19-21 we read, “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” Similar to Joseph, let’s be determined to repurpose the pain and trauma that we’ve experienced to be conduits for redemption.
Finally, it’s important that we do some deep cleaning in our souls from time to time. The concept with deep cleaning is similar to the idea of spring cleaning – when we do some general purging, maybe scrub baseboards, wash windows and do some widespread household resets. When I think about this, it reminds me of what Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24, “That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” When we do some deep cleaning in our souls, putting off the old self (misinformed and misaligned identities), we give room for God’s true design to grow and flourish in us. Then, we begin to experience vibrant life!
Let’s make sure that we take out the trash and keep our souls flourishing in God’s divine design!
