Spiritual Hygiene

“Read The Bible.”

“Get into His Word.”

“Participate in your Daily Devotions.”

 

Was that you?

Come on now, be honest.

How do you feel about “Scripture?”

How do you feel about “reading The Bible?”

Does it make you do an eye roll and groan?

Even if you are a Believer?

This is not about guilt; this is not about shame.

This is about real life, and how faith, through those written words, comes into play WITH that real life.

Many of us have heard, “the washing of The Word.”

How much of an eye roll does that produce for you?

Washing. There’s something to it. Powerful. Practical. Relevant.

Let’s discuss.

First…

Take a Shower.

“Cleanse my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Isaiah 51:7

Cleanse Me…The First Step?

“Cleanse my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Isaiah 51:7

We have often heard the statement, “Admitting there is a problem/that we need help is the first step.”

What is often the first thing many of us do when we wake up?

We take a shower.

Why?

Because we know we need to be cleaned up.

“Cleanse my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Isaiah 51:7

Hygiene.

Being refreshed. Renewed.

And showers, typically, make us feel BOTH.

And ALL of us need that spiritual hygiene enforced. It doesn’t matter if we are “just a little grimy,” or if we are full-on filthy.

We all need cleansing. And we all need to admit that we need that cleansing.

So, reading Scripture is that cleansing reset…

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water in The Word,”

Ephesians 5:26

His Word does Not come back void (Isaiah 55:11).

We start our days with taking a shower.

We need to start our lives, right where we are, by admitting that we need cleansing.

By applying Ephesians 5:26 to our lives.

But spiritual hygiene is still not complete.

Wash Your Hands.

 

This should be a no-brainer, “in real life,” right?

It’s something we are taught as children, certainly, by the time we’re in Kindergarten, right?

And, yeah, Scripture talks about clean hands…

“Elohim has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

For I have kept the ways of YHWH

and have not wickedly departed from my Yah.

For all His ordinances are before me;

I have not disregarded His statutes.

And I have been blameless before Him

and kept myself from iniquity.

So YHWH has repaid me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.”

Psalm 18:20-24

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

This seems impossible.

“Cleanness of my hands?”

Impossible?

Or… doable?

The simple hygiene act of washing our hands serves as a reminder to the larger spiritual hygiene we need to practice daily. Washing our hands is doable. It is maintenance. It does not require that we get into a scalding hot shower and scrub ourselves raw with soap.

Nope.

Wash your hands.

Sing “The Happy Birthday Song,” to ensure you’ve done a thorough job.

It takes a minute? A few minutes, at the most?

And we then get on with our day.

We keep it moving.

It’s a cleanliness check-in.

Likewise, this can be accomplished by scripture.

Check in briefly WITH it.

How?

Well, in example, there are plenty of passages that are not long; there are short, little, handwashing verses that can help, then and there, like…

Psalm 3…

1”O YHWH, how my foes have increased!

How many rise up against me!

2Many say of me,

‘YHWH will not deliver him.’

Selah.

3But You, O YHWH, are a shield around me,

my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

4To YHWH I cry aloud,

and He answers me from His holy mountain.

Selah.

5I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, for YHWH sustains me.

6I will not fear the myriads

set against me on every side.

7Arise, O YHWH!

Save me, O my YHWH!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

8Salvation belongs to YHWH;

may Your blessing be on Your people.”

 

Psalm 67…

1 “May YHWH be gracious to us and bless us,

and cause His face to shine upon us,

Selah.

2that Your ways may be known on earth,

Your salvation among all nations.

3Let the peoples praise You, O YHWH;

let all the peoples praise You.

4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for You judge the peoples justly

and lead the nations of the earth.

Selah.

5Let the peoples praise You, O YHWH;

let all the peoples praise You.

6The earth has yielded its harvest;

YHWH, our YHWH, blesses us.

7YHWH blesses us,

that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.”

 

And hey, if you are fully convinced you have no time, whatsoever?

“Yehoshua (YHWH saves) wept.”

John 11:35

(This is the shortest Bible verse, so, there really is no excuse for having no time to read Scripture).

Again, Isaiah 55:11…

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Spiritual handwashing is the quick, check-in maintenance. Practiced, not just daily, but several times a day.

It’s doable, because “getting into The Word” can ALSO apply to meditating ON it. Reflect ON the Scriptures you have read and heard.

Check in.

Wet Wipes?

“Lather, Rinse, Repeat.”

You and I have read those instructions on many shampoo bottles.

But this is not the only form of cleanliness repetition.

How about wet wipes?

Like handwashing, wet wipes are repetitious. It’s a repeated act of hygiene.

It’s another check-in.

It doesn’t require a full shower.

Just maintain and clean, right where we are.

If we have sticky hands from a PB and J Sandwich…wet wipes.

If we have spiritual stickiness from our latest sin- and we all have a latest sin…the wet wipes of His washing Word.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

Do a “sin” search, or a “problem” search, and look for the scriptures that address those issues.

And spiritually dab and cleanse yourself…

It IS NOT as hard as it may sound.

The Internet. Search engine.

Ta-dah.

But it does take your willingness.

And, yeah, that is trickier, but not impossible.

The Washing of The Word.

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water in The Word,”

Ephesians 5:26

Get Real.

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water in The Word,”

Ephesians 5:26

Spiritual Hygiene is as real as taking a shower; it’s practical.

It’s relevant.

It’s necessary.

We are not just bodies, we are not just bodies and minds, even.

We are bodies, minds AND spirits.

And we need to BE good stewards OF those spirits that are entrusted to us.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own, or you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”

1 Corinthians 6:20
“For each of you to know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”

1 Thessalonians 4:4

Being “hygienic” is a lifelong process.

His Word is crucial to getting and being clean.

Be clean, then, right now, wherever you are.

Let’s pray.

Abba,

I come to You, through Our Shepherd.

Your only begotten Son, Our Savior, יֵשׁוּעַ‎.

You know how unclean I am right now.

You know my sin.

You know how far away from You I am.

Forgive me.

I confess that I have not practiced good spiritual hygiene.

Too many things have contaminated my spirit, mind, and heart.

Forgive me.

Help me; cleanse me with Your Word.

Help me to apply it to my life regularly.

I need Your help.

Empower me to connect with You, to understand Your decrees.

Thank You for cleansing me with Your Love, with Your Word.

I receive it now, by faith.

Meet me where I am, then, right now.

Thank You.

Amen.

Copyright © 2026 by Sheryle Cruse