“Cleanliness is next to godliness, and the Bible says so.”

The phrase is not in Scripture. It appears in an eighteenth century sermon by John Wesley and traveled from there. Scripture consistently teaches that God looks past the outward appearance to the heart.

This one earned its place in the popular Bible because it was preached from pulpits for two centuries, and repeated preaching feels like revelation after a while. Wesley used it while urging his people toward decency and order, which is fine counsel, but he was not quoting a verse. When Samuel went to anoint a king and looked at Eliab's height and countenance, the Lord told him that man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. That is the Bible's settled instinct about surfaces. Jesus sharpened it further when He described cups clean on the outside and full of extortion within, and whited sepulchres beautiful outwardly but full of dead men's bones. Tidiness is a fine habit. It is simply not a measure of holiness, and Scripture never treats it as one.

One word, every week.

Scripture, reflection, and one thing to carry with you.