Who’s House Are You Building?

“'You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house…’”-Haggai 1:9

Why are churches falling apart? Why do we find our spiritual homes struggling? Why do we feel empty in our spiritual lives? Why do we feel like we are missing something in our walk with Christ?

Perhaps it’s because we aren’t putting enough effort into building our spiritual lives? Perhaps it’s because we have chosen to care more about our own social status or how our appearance looks to the outside world?

These are questions I am wrestling with after reading this section in Haggai. I watch people living the “Christian life”, but walk in such turmoil and emptiness. Although they say they are walking with Jesus, their personal growth and spiritual development is lacking.

We can recognize that Christ lives in us, therefore we have become His dwelling place. If we value Him in any way, then we should be taking great care to maintain His home.

It seems like we care more about what we look like on our outside with our busyness of schedule, our social connections and gatherings, our wealth, and much more; then, we find our spiritual life struggling because our “house” is much more important than God’s house!

Why would I say anything about the church falling apart in the beginning if our heart is God’s dwelling place? If you aren’t spiritually healthy as a follower of Christ and you continue to play “church”, then you are hurting the body. You are hindering the movement of the Church due to your unwillingness to address your spiritual emptiness.

Clarification: You can be spiritually drained and be a part of the church. It happens, and  my hope is that you come to be filled up with the body you are a part of. What I am addressing is the people who choose to avoid growth or dealing with the dwelling place of the Lord and keep their outside looking “nice”.

God might be providing the minimum because we choose to ignore taking care of His place. He might be longing to give us more, but we care less about Him and more about ourselves and our well-being.

May your heart be filled with Jesus. May you discover that you aren’t healthy if your spiritual heart isn’t healthy. His dwelling place is within, take care of it, in order to gain the spiritual blessings that He might have in store for you.

As a follower of Christ, may your house be taken care of because you have maintained the house of The Lord.

Peace and Blessings friends.