How To Get Clean From Your Sin

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7

Earlier this year, my husband and I decided to adopt a 10-week-old German Shepherd puppy. We named her Sadie, and I was obsessed with her from the get-go. I have wanted a German Shepherd ever since I was a little girl, so this was a dream come true for me.

However, what wasn’t a dream come true was potty training this very stubborn animal who seemed to like using the bathroom inside much more than she liked using it outside.

Oh, and did I mention that the majority of our house has carpet?

Needless to say, our carpeted floors have taken on a very unintentional polka-dotted pattern over the last few months because of sweet little Sadie (I say through gritted teeth).

No matter what cleaning products I tried over the last few months, the stains would not come up. I would spray and scrub and spray and scrub, but I could not get rid of all the spots Sadie left behind.

But because I’m 31 and like to watch homemaking, cooking, and cleaning videos on YouTube, I learned about this magical thing called the Bissell Little Green Machine.

This cleaning machine is designed to clean your furniture, your car, and, most importantly, your carpet. It has over 70,000 five-star ratings on Amazon if that tells you anything. So as soon as I could, I ordered this little green miracle in hopes that it could help me remove all the pee stains from my carpet.

Today, I finally busted this baby out and was ready to go. I filled the water tank. I added the cleaning solution. I clipped on the carpet cleaning attachment, and I went to work.

As I began, I have to admit there was a pit in my stomach, doubtful that this thing was actually going to be able to remove all of these stains, some of which had been there for months. But as I started spraying the cleaning solution and scrubbing the carpet with the Little Green Machine, I saw the stains start to disappear. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was working!

All this time I had been stressed, frustrated, and discouraged because I didn’t have the right tools to clean my carpet. Any other attempt I had made had been useless. But now that I had the Little Green Machine, my carpet was looking brand new.

As weird as it is to say, I think there’s a metaphor to be found in my puppy-accident-cleaning-journey.

I want you to think of the spots on the carpet as sin. All of us struggle with sin. We’re imperfect human beings. We’re far from spotless. And so often, we try everything in our power to overcome our sin and get rid of it only to be met with frustration and discouragement, just like when I was trying to clean up the pee stains with unsuccessful scrubbing and spraying.

We think we can overcome our sin in our own strength, by our own good works and with the best of intentions. But the reality is, we will always fall short if we try to rid ourselves of sinful behavior by ourselves.

Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we overcome our sin. The Holy Spirit is the Little Green Machine for our lives. He has the power to cleanse us and restore us from our sin, but only if we’re willing to invite Him into the equation.

It would have done me absolutely no good if I knew that the Little Green Machine could clean my carpet, but I never actually used it. I had to acquire the Little Green Machine and put it to use on my carpet in order to get rid of the stains. And the same is true for our lives. It does us no good to know that the Holy Spirit can help us with our sin struggles if we don’t actually ask Him for help or follow His guidance and instruction.

If we want to get clean, we’ve got to lean into the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple.

Have you invited the Holy Spirit into your struggles? Have you asked Him to help you overcome your sin? If not, I pray that today will be the day that changes and that you’ll take full advantage of the power that is available to you through the Holy Spirit.

He wants to help you. He wants to cleanse you. He wants to restore you.

It’s time to invite Him in.