May 9, 2017 SHARE: Reading time, two minutes. My water analogies continue. As we consider how the gospel of Jesus impacts our relationships, I think of the mop and the bucket. Everybody spills. Nobody likes to clean up the mess. How’s that working out at your house? The commitment we make when taking our marriage vows is “for better or for worse.” When I think of what my wife endures being married to a guy like me, the “better” seems too rare and the “worse” is my default mode. I have a natural tendency toward self. The relationship often slips to second place somewhere way back there behind “I want…” Relationships are prone to those kinds of spills, whether at home or in the life of the body of Christ. I think relational wellbeing is characterized quite nicely by the bucket and the mop. Here’s why. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow” says the prophet Isaiah (1:18). The forgiving grace of Christ is well suited to a scrubbing, cleansing analogy. I see far too much mud-slinging in church life, and it always does damage to relationships. In our marriages, it’s usually a bit more subtle: the word ignored, the little off-handed and sarcastic jab, the whining under the breath about carrying more than my load. When splattered, who mops up? The grace of God is on display when I’m willing to say, “I caused the mess.” We start fresh when we confess and make amends, picking up the mop and washing up, starting new. Mom’s get this. If the fruit of the Spirit is patience, our mothers were certainly Spirit-led when they grabbed the mop, over and over, recognizing that a healthy, tidy house came about when someone willingly, patiently, daily, repeatedly, cleaned it up. Again. Many of us learned about Jesus’ love by watching the grace inherent in being a mother. This might be a good week to thank her! And relationships are dependent on the servant’s heart to keep them healthy, vibrant, compassionate, kind and caring. Tension and anxiety around the house or in the church is an opportunity for someone willing to grab the mop and unleash the cleansing, scrubbing, forgiving grace of Jesus. Pride waits on someone else. The servant treasures the joy of a healthy, forgiving relationship and says, “Let me.” The gospel is about cleansing. Relationships are about finding a way through the messiness of life together. Discipleship is about humbly tending to the relationship with the cleansing gospel of Christ. We honor Jesus and live out our baptism when we live in forgiveness. Thanks for reading. Are you interested in helping bring a Grace Place Wellness Retreat to your region? We’d love to hear from you. Contact our President/CEO Randy Fauser today to begin exploring the possibilities. Let’s have a conversation about bringing our Church Worker Retreat to your area soon!