I’d like to talk about a phrase that I have come to realize is oppressing and harmful, and yet many say it without thinking much of it. You know when someone tells you that you shouldn’t be airing your dirty laundry? Or maybe you’ve said that to someone yourself?
Well, I’d like to know who truly airs dirty laundry, anyway? Doesn’t everyone wash their clothes before airing them on the clothesline to dry? When someone tells another to not air their dirty laundry, they are merely trying to silence another from talking about something that is likely considered shameful or should be kept a secret in the eyes of the person that is doing the judging, but in Matthew 7, it says that we are not to judge others or we too will be judged in the same measure.
In God’s eyes, every single sin is washed clean when we repent and turn away from our sins. When we believe in our heart that Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead to overcome death for our eternal salvation, we’ll soon realize just how small our sins are in comparison to God’s amazing love and his overwhelming desire to give us the fullness of eternal life and a heavenly inheritance. In God’s eyes, no sin is too big or too much to be able to be forgiven, and feeling shameful about what we have done merely traps us into thinking that we can’t move past it.
Air dirty laundry? That’s ridiculous. Let’s hang our freshly cleansed sins and washed-away shame and secrets out on the line for the whole world to see! By putting everything out there to show what God can do when he transforms hearts, minds and lives into a new creation, others will be inspired to do the same. Vulnerability invites others to share their own struggles and have compassion for what another has been through.
Satan wants you to think that your laundry is too dirty to talk about, too dirty to wear, and too dirty to ever be made clean. If he can do that, he can freeze people to think they can never realize their true potential and stop them from living out their purpose. Air it out, my friends! That laundry of yours? It’s not dirty at all. It’s been washed clean, and it even sparkles of God’s glory and holiness.
You were made in the image of God, and he overcame death. You can certainly overcome shame by not harboring any secrets, so hang it up for all to see! Be an inspiration to others and speak out about your struggles of the addictions you overcame, the broken life that was turned around, or the lessons you learned the hard way, because your sins aren’t dirty, they’ve been cleaned through the blood of Christ who died for your sins!
(Edited from original post by Steph published on medium.com on May 31, 2023)