Focus On Things Above

Philippians 4:8-9

“8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

What do you think about when you are cleaning up the mother of all messes?

“ (After going through your list of mommy curse words) How did this even happen? I just can’t figure out how this happened…”

“You owe me big, kid. Just wait until [insert revenge scenario here].”

“Dear God, I pray that my grandchildren have diapers that leak every single day and that my child has poop on her hands at least 3 times a week. Amen.”

“If I have to clean up one more [insert bodily function product here], I’m going to punch something!”

These thoughts don’t really line up with the verses in Philippians 4, eh? We are all sinners, save by grace and controlling our thoughts is one of the hardest things we are challenged with as godly women. It’s so easy to hide our thoughts from others, to let our emotions reign inside us instead of obeying Gods word. We can’t let that continue.

2 Corinthians 10:5

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We are commanded to not judge other moms who parent differently than us (Matthew 7:1-5), to not envy those who can afford the fancy gizmos that make cleaning up messes slightly easier (James 3:14-16), and to not plot revenge against our children (Leviticus 19:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:15;). Yeah, plotting against our kids is kinda of funny and we may joke about it among friends, but in the moment, where is your heart while you are doing the plotting? Are you thinking of things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise? Or are you truly ticked off, ready to bite the head off of the next person who walks through the door? (Sorry, hubs.)

Colossians 3:1-4

“1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

I absolutely love how The Message translation puts verse 3: “ Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life.”

If we keep our focus on heaven, on Christ who sits at God’s right hand, and the long term goal of our lives, these messes we are cleaning up hold no weight. They are definitely not worth sinning over. Nothing is. Christ is our new real life and we get to leave everything else behind.

I want to end by telling you that in the midst of writing today’s devotional, my sweet baby had another diaper blowout. There was literally a puddle of poop in my lap. If I stood up, there would have been poop on the couch and dripping down my legs. Thankfully, I was sitting next to a pile of burp clothes that saved the day. I took a deep breath, laughed and turned my thoughts to Jesus. At one time, a poop puddle would have ruined my day. But I made a choice to be kingdom focused instead of “poor me” focused. Will you join me?

This part of a series called The “Poop is everywhere” devotional. Click here to read more from the series. Messy Tired Love devotionals connect everyday mom moments to the truth of the gospel. Learn more here.