Elder L. Tom Perry
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Each Saturday morning my brothers and sisters and I would receive a housecleaning assignment from my mother. She would tell us: "Be certain to clean thoroughly in the corners and along the mop boards. If you are going to miss anything, let it be in the center of the room."
She knew if we cleaned the corners, she would never have a problem with the center of the room.
Over the years, my mother's counsel has had enormous application in many ways, as in the task of spiritual housecleaning. The aspects of our lives that are on public display take care of themselves. It is in the hidden corners of our lives where we must be particularly thorough.
One of those areas is our thoughts. We must be continually looking out for those idle times when we allow our minds to wander. Another corner that can "accumulate dust" pertains to the direction we give to our families. President Kimball highlighted his concerns when he said: "Our success, individually and as a church, will largely be determined by how faithful we focus on living the gospel in the home."
"My general counsel to you is that we must create regimens that foster spiritual housecleaning —— ongoing and continual processes that draw us closer to our Lord and Savior."
When the spirit conquers the flesh, the flesh becomes a servant, not a master. When we clean out the corners of worldliness and are ready to obey the Lord, we are able to receive his word and keep his commandments. A dramatic change occurs in individuals when they dedicate themselves to becoming disciples of the Lord.
"May God bless us that we will earnestly desire to do our spiritual housecleaning, getting into all the corners, cleaning out all those things that would diminish us as a disciple of the Lord."
