Laundry Lesson

Last week I did my usual 5 or 6 loads of laundry and discovered, to my dismay, that a blue ballpoint pen had found its way into the washer and in the load of whites.  Couldn’t have been in the load of darks with the blues and blacks?  No, it was in the load of whites where the blue spots were quite noticeable, and somehow those blue spots were mostly on my clothes.

In the words of Lady MacBeth, “Out, damned spot! out, I say!”

I’d love to be able to hide my character flaws in the dark too, but sometimes, just like those blue spots on my white clothes, my flaws are exposed. 

I had a conversation with someone last week, and as the words were coming out of my mouth, it was as if I could see them in a conversation bubble above my head. As soon as they were out there, I wanted to erase them and take them back.  I wanted to pop that conversation bubble and re-write the words.  I immediately felt horrible.

But words, once spoken and heard, can’t be un-spoken and un-heard. 

A few days later, the person I had that conversation with spoke to my husband and expressed some surprise at my words because she thought I could usually find the good in people and situations, and parts of our conversation (my words) had been rather negative.

What kind of “bleach” can be applied to wash my character flaws and spots?  I managed to bleach most of the ink spots out of my clothes so that the blue is barely noticeable.  What about the “spots” in my heart that colour my thoughts and words?  
  

Philippians 4:8 says “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” 

My faith is a fairly simple one.   I believe that God knows my heart, He saw my internal anguish and remorse and heard my confession, and He has forgiven me.  I need to continue to keep my eyes fixed on Him, and my thoughts true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable.

Luke 6:45 (New Living Translation):

⁴⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. 

I Need Thee O I Need Thee - Acapella Arrangement (Sam Robson)