Diaper Changes and The Grace of God
Both of my children were/are aggressive poopers.
At least, that’s the phrase my husband and I have coined for them.
So many of my friends have kept clothes from their children’s newborn days while all of our tiny onesies hold memories of epic blowouts. For awhile with each kid, I would need multiple changes of clothes for my children AND myself because these blowouts were so constant. We tried sizing up and using different brands of diapers, but all of them lost in their efforts to keep my children clean.
Changing diapers is one of the mundane to-dos in this season of life. It has to be done, it’s messy, it’s constant, and it’s far from glamorous.
Quite unexpectedly, my perspective of dirty diapers changed during the sermon at church a couple of Sundays ago. We’ve been going through the book of Ephesians and, wow, it has been absolutely incredible. Such a rich book of wisdom, encouragement, and a breathtaking view of the gospel.
We recently got to this section:
But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24
As our pastor started preaching through this section he mentioned that the putting off of your old self is literally like taking off a garment (Leviticus 16:23). He said this old self is dirty, it’s smelly and you don’t want it on you. He mentioned that we have a large number of little ones in our church (very true) and illustrated how we, the parents, are constantly changing them because they dirty themselves.
I was already amening in my head when he shifted things and said, “And that is the beauty of grace. It saves us, it sustains us, and it is constantly cleansing us.”
We have been given a new self in Christ. We are created after the likeness of God. This new self can be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, honest, and peacemaking all by the grace of God.
And yet we still sin. We are short with our husbands, our ears perk up when gossip begins, we hold grudges, we are impatient, we lie. These ‘little sins’ may not seem like a huge deal but they are putrid before our holy God. We cannot be content to live in the filth of our sin.
And that is they beauty of grace. It constantly cleanses us. Not only did God’s work on the cross redeem us once and for all from the debt of our sin, but the grace of God is faithful to sanctify us every day for the rest of our lives. Putting on this new self isn’t a one time deal. I wish it was as much as I wish I could put one clean diaper on my baby and then he’s good for the day! It is a constant need in our lives.
And the grace of God is sufficient to sustain us and cleanse us from our sin from now until we reach heaven’s shore.
If you are in the business of changing diapers many times a day like myself, I encourage you to pause each time and praise God that his grace is also working in our hearts. As we clean our littles, be humbled by the fact that God is doing the same to us - helping us put on this new self day after day.
Remind yourself of 1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Yes, this includes diaper changes. We can glorify God in all things.
No matter what your day to day looks like, remind yourself of the grace of God. He has met our rebellion with rescue and sustains us in every thing we walk through. What a glorious, faithful God we serve.
