Doing Laundry is Tough

I have a confession to make which would make my mother blush. I hate laundry. I hate laundry so much, our laundry area has become our dressing area. It’s not so much the cleaning part I hate—it’s that pesky “folding” part I hate with every fiber of my being. Why fold clothes when I’m going to unfold them to put them on in a couple days? Why fold when our world no longer irons? It’s a waste of time!

I wash laundry multiple times a week. I fold and take care of that laundry once a month—maybe. When friends come over, I hide the laundry behind the curtain in our laundry area. I don’t want it to bother people or make them trip. Honestly, I’m a tad bit ashamed of my housekeeping shortcoming, and hiding it makes it less embarrassing.

 Here’s the reality. A week’s worth of laundry takes me twenty minutes to fold and put away. It’s not as time-consuming as I think. But putting it off, continually blaming the dread of wasting time on a mundane task, lets the laundry pile up. The twenty minute task turns into an hour, 90 minutes, maybe even two hours just because I told myself it was no big deal. Sometimes, though, it is a big deal.

 Sin can be seen in much the same light. We all know sin is inevitable—it’s a part of life. When that sin happens, we have two choices. It can be a choice which needs correcting or forgiving, or it becomes a lifestyle which changes the course of our faith journey and pulls us away from the Father.

The first choice is quick to find freedom. The second choice can take large chunks of your heart and mind simply because you didn’t want to address the issue in the first place.

Don’t ignore your spiritual laundry. Do the little hard things now so you aren’t in over your head in bondage later. Someday, you’ll understand why doing the seemingly mundane spiritual work was worth it.