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Things To Consider Today By Leland Pulley

Be Clean And Wholesome Physically And Mentally

When a child is born in a healthy condition, he seems so clean and wholesome like he just came from God. As a young baby who is receiving proper care, he will look and act healthy. When he smiles, he seems to radiate light. He has his whole earthly life ahead of him. It’s a time to be optimistic for both child and parent.

Several decades later the child has passed through childhood, adolescence, and most of his adult years. He is now in the evening of his life. He has wrinkles , maybe a few scares, and probably some gray hair. These types of things are normal with age and are not a major concern. I know many older people who still have good physical and mental health. They still smile a lot and seem to radiate light in the process. This is because they have lived and continue to live a clean and wholesome life physically and mentally. They are spiritually well.

Think of a pipe with water flowing through it. As long as obstacles are kept out of the pipe, the water will flow as it should. As long as contaminants do not get into the pipe, the water will come out clean. For the adults described above, water flows out of their pipes in much the same way it did when they were young people. There are also no contaminants that have gotten into their pipes over the years so their water is still clean and pure.

Now consider other adults who have chosen to live their lives in a different manner. They made different decisions and ended up making more mistakes, some of which cannot be corrected. Consider first things related to physical health. These people may have been careless and permanently injured a part of their bodies. They ate too many of the wrong foods and put substances into the body that damaged it over time. They may have taken drugs and done damage to their bodies and minds. They drank too much or smoked too many cigarettes. They could be anorexic or obese. They didn’t get enough exercise. They have dyed their hair too many times so it looks unnatural. They have had their face lift and other plastic surgery, but cannot hide all the evidence of age and their out of proportion body shape. They defiled their bodies with tattoos, which are easy to put on and hard to remove. They spent too many hours tanning while younger, and now with age their skin has become like shoe leather. Even outward appearance reveals problems. Some of these people do not practice, on a consistent basis, physical cleanliness of the body itself. Some wear too many ear rings or get involved in putting metal items in their nose, tongue, or belly button. Their hair is not combed or groomed and the men are unshaven. Their clothing is sloppy, and in some cases dirty.

Now consider things related to mental health. These people have had less opportunities to learn, grow and develop as individuals. They have been less able to succeed in various endeavors, and this has lead to lower self-esteem. They have more pessimism and less optimism. Negative thought patterns have lead to more bad behavior. There has been more coveting and less productive work by them. Stress and headaches are more common for them, and this works against a positive attitude. There is more depression. With less training and worse upbringing, not as many good values were developed by them. They have more vices and less virtues. They developed less reasoning skills. As a consequence it’s more difficult for them to judge between right and wrong. They have more unclean thoughts, speech, and actions. This ultimately gives them a more filthy mind, less controlled tongue, and worse behavior. There is more sexual immorality in the form of pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultery, and sexual behavior between members of the same sex. To be moral, sexual activity must be between a man and woman, who are legally married, and both consent to the activity.

When people are less clean and wholesome physically and mentally, there are several ramifications. They don’t feel as good about themselves, nor look as good to others. Their social well-being is affected in a negative way. Their employment opportunities are more limited. Their spirituality is definitely lowered. Everything in an individual’s life affects everything else in his life, and this is no exception.

Now let’s go back to the water pipe illustration. For this second group of people, there are more rocks, roots, weeds, and garbage that have gotten into their pipes over time so the pipes are partially clogged. As a consequence, the water flow has decreased. Besides this, the water coming out of their pipes is also contaminated. The contamination comes from negative pollutants that they have allowed in their lives, and it’s still there. This means the water in the pipe has been mixed with things that have made it impure. A clogged pipe with contaminated water represents many older people who have not lived their lives in the best manner. Their bodies have lost health unnecessarily or faster than normal for their age. Their minds have not been developed in a positive manner as much as they could have, so they’re too full of useless and negative things and not full enough of useful and positive things. These latter adults are not like the first group of cleaner adults described above. They’re not as clean and wholesome physically and mentally. You can see and feel it when you’re around them and interact with them. Ask them the right questions and it becomes even more obvious who they truly are and how clean they are.

Go back to the new baby and remember the image of his health and smile and cleanliness. Visualize other people you know who are clean and wholesome at middle age or older. Don’t they radiate cleanliness, happiness, and spirituality? What has allowed them to be like this? Visualize people who have not lived lives in as clean and wholesome manner. How do they look in comparison to the first group? Can you see the evidences of their past errors when you observe them or talk with them? They will ultimately radiate who they truly are, especially if you have good discernment.

Finally look in the mirror at yourself. Have you been leading a clean and wholesome life? What evidences do you have of this? How do you look in that mirror? If you’re not satisfied with what you see, take action today. Find a way to make a few improvements to become cleaner and more wholesome, and then work on these in the future.

Here is something that is important to remember. It’s easier to judge you from outward appearances and behavior than from what you’re thinking or striving to do. This is why people do this type of judging. They don’t know why you did certain things in the past. They don’t know if you have corrected yourself and changed your life, let alone if you have truly repented of anything. Usually they won’t take the time to get to know you well, and in the process, peel back your outer layers to see the real you today. If they did, their opinion of you may be quite different. This doesn’t mean you still don’t have some obstacles in your water pipe and some residual contamination, but at least others would know what is truly there and perhaps could help you get rid of some obstacles and contamination. As their help is utilized by you, it becomes easier to have more water flow and cleaner water. We shall label these improvement and purification. As both occur, people in the second group can become more like people in the first group. There are certain things that cannot be redone or healed, but most of the important mental and spiritual things in your life can be fully overcome. There is hope for everyone. Merely exercise faith in yourself and others who volunteer to assist you. Then through good works, positive results will occur. Faith without such works is dead. When you are clean, you set an example for others. You’re providing a cleaner environment to them and inviting them to be clean too. When enough people do this, the whole environment in the home, business, neighborhood, club, or church supports clean and wholesome living, and it uplifts everyone in the process. May you experience this in your life, as I have experienced it all my life.

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