The importance of exterior and interior maintenance aren’t just a consideration for houses. It’s also a necessary consideration for human persons. As human beings, both the outward body and the inward soul are in need of careful stewardship.

Maintaining a House

Purchasing a home is often an exciting experience. There’s something satisfying about receiving the official deed to the house. And when you get to hold the keys to the front door of your new house – that ushers in another level of exhilaration. But within a few weeks (after the marathon race of painting, moving in furniture, and unpacking boxes), the real responsibilities of maintaining a home quickly become apparent.

When it comes to maintaining a home, we can identify two different aspects of this work, and both are essential in order to preserve the functionality of the living space. For one thing, the physical building itself needs to be preserved. Worn out shingles will require periodic re-roofing. The foundation may need repair, especially if it’s an older home. The siding may need to be replaced or repainted. Various other projects with windows and doors may be necessary to maintain the structural integrity of the house.

But interior maintenance is similarly necessary to make a home favorable and functional. Water spills and leaks need to be repaired to prevent mold. Pests and rodents may need to be controlled. Dirty laundry needs to be cleaned and sorted. Messes need to be brought into order. Trash needs to be taken out to the curb rather than hoarded in closets and corners. The interior maintenance of the home must not be neglected. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how pretty the house looks on the outside – the house will be a repulsive and dysfunctional living space.

Maintaining a Human

The importance of exterior and interior maintenance aren’t just a consideration for houses. It’s also a necessary consideration for human persons. As human beings, both the outward body and the inward soul are in need of careful stewardship. And as Christ rescues us from our former dysfunction and deadness in sin, He acknowledges how important it is for Christians to engage in this maintenance. In a previous article, I wrote about what constitutes a healthy diet for bodily stewardship. In this article, I’ll highlight what constitutes a healthy diet for a man’s soul.

Many people give little conscious effort to caring for the nutrition of their inner being. There’s a common tendency to presume that if our souls have attained to some sort of health in the past, they’ll remain healthy indefinitely. And yet our souls are impacted more than we realize by the things we see and hear. A wholesome diet, pursued with holy discernment, is an important part of healthy Christian manhood. Let’s consider various aspects of what this looks like.

Feeding the Mind

First, we need to give attention to what we’re feeding our minds. The apostle Paul explicitly says, in light of God’s saving mercies to us, we need to give attention to the sort of things we’re thinking about. He insists in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Christians must not passively absorb the cultural norms that are broadcasted by sitcoms and social media influencers. Instead, we are commanded – because of God’s mercies and by God’s mercies – to adopt a new, renewed way of thinking.

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