Principles

For years I was concentrating on things like career and education. Some were exceptionally lean years financially. Time to work on home maintenance was scarce and often the funds for routine maintenance were directed to another semester of tuition. Over the last eight weeks my phone has filled with pictures similar to these:

If this initially seems like a strange set of images to have on this site, please bear with me for one moment. These pictures represent what happens when the many small fixes over the years were deemed not high enough in priority to address at the time. In the end, they all added up to one HUGE job.

It was a huge job I attempted by myself initially. After about three weeks of going it alone, one family member and one friend came along on their own (I don’t ever ask for help) and started helping. The difference in how quickly things were getting done after that was amazing. They showed up right as I began experiencing something new for me. I wanted to give up.

prin·ci·ple [n] a fundamental truth

Two principles were driven home to me during this time. Principles that apply to our spiritual and physical health. Principles that apply to pretty much any area of life.

1. Small problems left unaddressed will grow into seemingly overwhelming issues.
2. Facing insurmountable problems becomes much easier with even a little support.

Weight loss can seem like a lost cause. Maybe you’ve tried and it seems as if you’re getting nowhere. Possibly you’ve been at it for a while and only a little weight has come off. This is especially true if, like me, you have treated your body like I treated my house. All of those maintenance issues still had to be taken care of. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Failure to maintain our spiritual health has similar results. Unchecked sin can become such a burden that you can feel it chaining you down. It has to be cleaned out as well to keep your spiritual home clean. The longer it builds up, the harder it is to overcome. Again, there is a light.

You CAN improve your health. You CAN lose weight. If you must, you CAN do it by yourself. Do not follow my example. Ask for help. If you can get someone you are close to join you it halves the burden. If you can get several around you, it actually becomes less burden and more fun. Oddly enough, my Bible study this morning was based on 1 Cor. 6:19.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

The good news is that if you are one of God’s children, you don’t have to face either of these alone. Need to clean out or shape up the temple you’ve been given? You have help. “From God” in fact.

By the way, the house went on the market. The realtor, when she saw it, commented “You all did a great job! This is much better than what I expected.” I wouldn’t have believed that would ever be said a month before that. So keep after it. If you are working to rebuild yourself spiritually or physically, keep after it and don’t give up. Those issues that added up can still be addressed, it just takes more effort. And don’t go it alone.

This article was first published on April 23, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

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