The home is the place where we are all real with each other, it is the place where we relax and enjoy being ourselves.  Your home is to be a place of peace and rest both for the Lord and for everyone in your home. There are homes where conflicts arise between husbands and wives over cleanliness.  As the woman of the house, you are responsible for the cleanliness of your home, I am not saying your husband should not and cannot help, but primarily it is your responsibility, and you are the one to mobilise those in your home in the art of cleaning the home.

The cleanliness of your home will play a huge role in the life and wellbeing of those who live within it.

One well-known saying is “cleanliness is next to godliness”. God Himself is a holy God, and when you look through Leviticus for example, you will see the many instructions for cleanliness that He introduced to the Israelites.   If God takes the matter of cleanliness seriously, how can we, His children not make our home environment a clean place?

Why keep a clean home?

1. To honour the Lord: Our home environment speaks a lot about us, and if God the Maker of the universe dwells in your home, you want to make sure that your home is clean for Him, it is a service to render first to Him who is holy.

2. To honour everyone within your home: Keeping your home clean must not be something done because you will be having a visitor, but it is for each and everyone in your home to enjoy first, and that includes you. When you see the cleanliness of your home in this manner, you will not feel stressed to keep your home in order because a visitor is coming, rather, your home is first what it is because of those who live here, and as result, visitors come in to enjoy what you and your household are already enjoying, as it becomes a matter of lifestyle and not just practice.

To keep you in good health: When a home environment is clean, it keeps germs and bacteria away as much as possible, and this helps to improve the well-being of those in your home environment.

To beautify your home: With no shadow of a doubt, the cleanliness of your home has a way of adding beauty to it, and so also is the opposite, a house unkempt makes the house look ugly.

If the cleanliness of your home is of high importance as discussed above, the matter we want to look at now is how do you do this?

Sweeping: Sweep your home daily or two to three days intervals, this is because your home automatically accumulates dirt.

Dusting: Dust accumulates every now and then within your home, therefore, make effort to dust surfaces like the T.V, lintels, banisters etc.

Fresh air: Leave your room window open for some minutes daily, and particularly during winter months.

Empty your bin: Make sure you empty your bin regularly and dispose of rotten and expired items that cause bad odour in your home.

As you make effort to keep your home in clean order, bring your children in too, so that they can assist you. If possible discuss chores with your husband and see if he is willing to take on any of them after both of you sit and pray about what needs to be done around the house and agree on a plan.

Let’s be real, women live as busy lives now as men, what happens when you both work full time and you have responsibility for the children and all the meals as the mummy, even when you do not work full time, the responsibility of running the home can be quite overwhelming. If you struggle to find time to keep on top of your cleaning then here are some options.  Employ someone, formal or informal, ask friends and loved ones to help out, have prompts e.g. no breakfast until the kitchen is clean! Etc

There are online self-help guides on how to keep a clean house, one of them includes having a 15 mins declutter daily regime. Do some research and pray to the Lord for His wisdom as you seek to make your home a haven. Don’t be condemned if you are doing your best and it’s not good enough. Keep pressing in, do not be discouraged.