I heard about a pious hypocrite in a church who loved to pray long public prayers, each of which he closed with, “And, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life!” One of the godly elders of the church became tired of hearing this empty ritual. One evening, after the man had concluded his long routine prayer and had mentioned the cobwebs, the elder stood up and prayed, “And, Lord, while You’re at it, kill the spider!” It was the spider Paul had in mind when he wrote 2 Corinthians 7:1. This means, Kill the spider.

“Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” —2 Corinthians 7:1