Take Out the Trash

You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. - 1 John 3:5

One of the things that we took with us when we moved overseas was a lot of garbage bags. Looking back, I'm just not sure why. Putting trash in a nice clean bag was a foreign concept to most Africans. In fact most of what we consider garbage in the West is a reusable resource there. For example, all containers can be rinsed out and used again and again and again. We soon learned what was "trash" and what was not by watching our house helper. Often, things that we would have once thrown away were in a nice clean bag as he headed home.

John said that Jesus was revealed so that He might take away sins, and we know that what Jesus takes away will never reappear. While our flesh may find it difficult to let go of sin, Jesus takes it away for good.

With that in mind, let me suggest a path to greater personal holiness. First, let Jesus reveal the "trash" in your life, then once it is revealed, let Him take it away. If so, you'll never see it again.

Unless, of course, you recycle.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can watch over ourselves. We can pray to recognize and reject the first thoughts of sin. We can pray to recognize a warning not to speak words which would hurt or tempt someone else. And we can, when we must, pray for the humility and the faith to repent. - Henry B. Eyring