Remodel Your Home in Christ: Maintenance

There has never been a more pressing time than now for us to create a Christ-centered home! Your home has so much potential to do good and bless the lives of all who live within its walls! Parents and children alike! Never underestimate the power of family! Creating a Christ-centered home is your greatest defense against the evils of this world.

Families are ordained of God. You know family is important. You know the only way to create a strong, unified family is to help them focus on Christ. But how? Where do you begin?

Over the next several posts, if you’ll stick with me, I want to walk you through what I like to think of as “Remodeling Your Home”. Let’s take the framework you already have in place, and tweak it so that it’s functioning at 110%!

Warning: This is going to take effort on your part! You’ll need to do the work prayerfully to make your home the beautiful masterpiece God intends for it to be!

Just so you have an idea where we’re headed…Here’s the line up!

Imagine you’ve just spent years planning and building a beautiful home for your family. It’s finally “move-in” day! You’re all packed up and ready to go. Once you finally unpack all the boxes and have everything just the way you’d planned…you’re done, right?! I mean, you built the house of your dreams and moved in, so…welp! That’s it, right?!

What if that was it? As in… it was never part of your plan to clean up the kitchen after cooking a meal? Or make your bed? Take out the trash? Or clean the toilets…like ever?! (ew!)

Why on Earth would you ever invest so much time and energy into something you had no intention of maintaining or taking care of!? Why would you do all that hard work? The answer is simply this…You Wouldn’t!

The truth is, you take care of the things that you value. So just as you would clean up after yourself, wash your laundry, and mow the lawn to keep your home in good shape… you would make the time to maintain your Christ-Centered home.

Just like you would do your best to keep your home clean, neat, and orderly, you would regard your Christ-Centered home as sacred. You would do your best to ensure that nothing impure or negative had power to influence those inside. You would keep your home decluttered from the busyness of life and focus on what matters most. And when something breaks or gets worn down, you would repair it.

Why do you do this? Why do you try so hard to keep your home clean and in good shape?

Why? Because it is valuable to you! And living a clean and clutter-free life feels amazing! You take pride in maintaining your home because it reflects YOU! But when you strive to maintain a Christ-centered home, your home reflects the Savior. And better yet, you can feel Him present!

Why Regular Home Maintenance is Important

Let’s back up. Think about something expensive that you have…like a car. Having a car is a valuable asset. It gives you the freedom and ability to go places whenever you’d like. But, you have to make sure you have enough gas and that you change the oil regularly. Every so often you need to replace the tires, breaks, washer fluid, etc.

If I bought a car, but never once did anything to care for my car, what would happen? Well, pretty soon I’d run out of gas and I’d lose the freedom the car gave me to go anywhere! So what if I made sure I always had gas, but neglected everything else? It wouldn’t take long before my car would be run down and unsafe to drive. It would only be a matter of time before my investment was spoiled.

Your house is very much the same. If regular maintenance and repairs are neglected, your home will become a dangerous place to live and in only a matter of time. Roofs need repairing and foundations must be maintained to keep harmful water damage out.

#1: Safety

Properly maintain your home to ensure it is a safe place to live!

#2: Save Money

Although repairs and maintenance do cost money, in the long run you’ll be saving yourself so much more $$$!

Small problems are often not very expensive to replace. However, if you allow a small problem to progress and grow into a BIG problem, then be prepared to shell out the BIG bucks!!

#3: Improve and Maintain Functionality

Spiritual Home Maintenance Defined

Spiritual home maintenance is defined as the commitment and sacrifices you regularly make to ensure that your home is continually centered on Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Home Maintenance Includes:

Focusing on your relationship with God

Creating intentional moments to focus on building relationships with your spouse and children

Maintaining your Vision

Keeping your Foundation Firm and focused on Christ

Surrounding yourself and your family with wholesome activities and reminders that continually point you to Christ

Just as you would ACTIVELY care for your physical home or a car, you must intentionally maintain your spiritual home. When you notice something isn’t working properly, it is of utmost importance to fix the problem. Spiritual damages can start or feel small, but if left unchecked, can grow into difficult and serious problems.

Instead of money, you will need to invest your time, energy, and heart into maintaining your Christ-centered home.

Be prepared to…

Get clear on your Family vision and goals

Establish routines that invite the Savior and create peace and order

Invite the Savior into your home through your thoughts, actions, and kind words.

Remove all distractions that pull you away from the Savior.

Keep your life decluttered from too many good activities and not enough of the best activities.

Intentionally seek out family time and relationship building

Teach your children to be kind and how to resolve conflict.

Do more activities that increase love in your home.

Clean Out the Mud!

Just like you wouldn’t let the kids run around the house in muddy boots, don’t allow the mud and filth of the world into your home!

Avoid harmful media (songs, books, movies, or maybe too much time wasted on devices).

Maintenance Requires Constant Effort

Maintaining a Christ-centered home is called maintenance for a reason! It takes constant effort! It isn’t something that can be forgotten and taken care of on the occasional weekend when you feel like it. Spiritual maintenance is how you build your home into a fortress against the adversary and make it a place of refuge.

If your heart is in your Godly home, you will be inspired and guided as to how to best protect it!

Common areas that Need regular Home Improvement

One of the biggest challenges for maintaining your home is keeping water out! Water causes extensive foundation problems, rot, and mold. The Adversary and wickedness of the world is the “water” in this case.

Water flows into your home along the paths of least resistance. It’s easy to not live the gospel. It’s easy to not hold regular family scripture study and prayer. Bad media and bad influences allowed inside your home are considered spiritual water damage.

Satan will come into your home through your weakest outlets. Spiritual home maintenance requires constant effort to fortify your home and keep the water out!

One recommendation that I love in avoiding water damage, is to make sure the grading of your property slopes away from the house. In other words, put your home in a high place! On a hill, even! Just as the Lord always put His house in high places, your home is considered a temple and should be raised up on high ground.

Your Spiritual Home Inspection Checklist

Take time to evaluate the items on this checklist! What are you doing well? What areas need some “home improvement”?

Remember who you are! Understand you are a child of God. You have a Heavenly family and your family now is eternal. Recognize the worth of each person in your home. Continually pray to see each member of your family through the eyes of God. Your worth is great in the eyes of God!

Daily personal prayer and scripture study

Daily/Regular Family Scripture Study

Regular family counsel

Date your spouse

Frequent one-on-one time with each child

Christ-centered family traditions

Service both within the home and to your “neighbors”

Your Spiritual Cleaning Checklist

Decluttering: What is distracting me from the basics? Where am I spending my time? How can my time be better spent?

Purify my life: How can I make myself clean? Am I reading, listening, watching anything that brings impure thoughts in my mind and heart? What can I do or change to remove unkind thoughts or feelings from my heart and mind? Pray to purify your heart.

Humility and Gratitude: Am I Counting my blessings? Am I teachable? In what ways am I being prideful in my life/relationships? How can I let go and remain humble/teachable?

Self worth: Know that you are a loved daughter of God. Understand how precious you are and the key role you play in your home as wife and mother. You are a powerful leader and an elect daughter of God. Step powerfully into your role to help guide your family back to the arms of your Father in Heaven. Before you can fill your husband’s and your children’s cups, you must fill your own. Fill your cup with earnest and sincere prayer and daily study of the scriptures. God will answer your prayers and guide you safely home!

Final Thoughts on Maintaining your Christ-Centered Home…

Consistant and routine maintenance is essential for your spiritual home. It is not negotiable!

Your family is forever. Your Christ-centered home is meant to endure forever, not just a few decades. Maintain your home with the same love and care you would demonstrate for God’s Holy Temple.

Be ready to make adjustments when they are needed. Although truth will never change, you are constantly learning and growing. This means there will be plenty of opportunities for some fine-tuning! Take those opportunities to keep your home safe, make the most of your precious time, and keep your home fulfilling its divinely instituted purpose!