Harsh Truths Lead to Growth - Hopefully

There are always things that need doing - laundry, cleaning the house, finishing those projects you started, etc. Many people think I am a busy mom because I have five children, work part-time, and I am going to school. However, I think every mom is a busy mom, they just have different things on their to-do list. Anyway, as I thought today about how my to-do list keeps getting longer and longer, I had to admit to myself why. It is not that I don't have the time to complete it. Unfortunately, it has more to do with the fact that I am lazy. 

I came to this harsh realization about a month ago when I asked my husband to honestly tell me three things he would change about me if he could. He said, he wished I wasn't so lazy. GASP!!! Note of warning: Never ask your husbands this question unless you are prepared to handle anything they say. I thought I could handle it, but of course an argument ensued. However, later I had to admit to myself that in all honesty, I really am lazy, and I am thankful he had the courage to tell me the truth. Of course, for about a month now, I have still been trying to deny it. Seriously, who wants to admit they are lazy? But as my to-do list keeps getting longer and unaccomplished, I finally had to take a step back and look at why it has not been getting completed. I am lazy. 

How are you lazy? You might ask. Many may even give me an excuse because I have so many kids. The truth is, I often opt to just veg out watching tv or using my computer rather than doing the much needed task staring me in the face. But God has a way of getting to my heart. I've thinking lately about how God tells us our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Now most people use this to say you shouldn't abuse alcohol and drugs and cigarettes, etc. I don't do any of those things, but God has been speaking to me about how it means so much more than that. It means I need to eat healthy foods and exercise to take care of this body He has given me. It means that I need to use my body for doing good (like cleaning my house, or other much needed tasks). Most importantly it means not just my physical body, but my whole person is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God lives in me and that needs to come across in all that I do. When I let things go, things that need to get done, just to do nothing important, I am choosing not to use my body in a way that glorifies God. It does not glorify God to put aside the needs of my family, or the promises I have made with my lips. 

So thank you Joshua for your honesty. I appreciate it. And thank you God, for teaching me a much needed lesson.  - Now off to clean the kitchen.

1 Cor. 6:19, 20 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.