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There are tons of television shows centered around the idea of remodeling your home, and most of them operate on the same principle: helping a homeowner improve their living environment. Without proper care, houses deteriorate, or residents simply tire of the old furniture, paint and decorations around them. They need to remodel!
Sometimes we need the same thing spiritually! James 1:21-25 gives us a blueprint to do an “extreme makeover” on our spiritual houses, and it all centers around the powerful word of God (James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:22-25; John 17:15-17; Acts 20:28-32).
MAKE ROOM for the Word! The first thing that happens in a remodeling job is tearing out the old walls, furniture, etc. You can’t bring in the new unless you get rid of some old! Likewise, in order to remodel our spiritual houses, we have to lay aside “filthiness and overflow of wickedness” (James 1:21). That means we have to throw away the sin that is in our lives and put on the “new man” (Col. 3:1-10). Sin is heavy (Heb. 12:1) and it clutters our environment. Get rid of it!
RECEIVE the Word! The next thing to do is bring in the new, useful material. For our spiritual houses, that useful material is the word of God. James says to receive it with “meekness” (James 1:21). We should have the same mind as David in Psalm 119:11 and the Christians in 1 Thess. 2:13. God’s word must be “implanted” or “engrafted” into our hearts, which is God’s plan (Heb. 8:6-13).
DO the Word! If you are remodeling a home, it doesn’t do any good to have a bunch of lumber and uninstalled fixtures laying around. You have to actually put the stuff to work! The same goes with God’s word (James 1:22). We can’t be hearers only. Jesus teaches this same lesson (Luke 6:46; John 14:15).
CONTINUE in the Word! You have to take care of the new remodel! Remember Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 10:1-13.
If you follow God’s blueprint, you can have a successful spiritual home makeover! But make sure your house has a strong foundation first (Matt. 7:24-27; John 8:24; Matt. 10:32-33; Luke 13:3,5; John 3:3,5; Mark 16:16).
Matt Clifton
BulletinDigest.com