Spiritual Mastitis

I'm not the most educated idiot regarding mastitis, but that's a good thing. I've never had it and (as a farmer) my goats don't get it. However, many good dairy people out there battle this odious attack of the mammaries on a daily basis. I've heard their cries and I've seen the struggle this produces in a herd of animals.

Mastitis is caused by the staph bacteria getting up into the teats of an animal. There, it breeds in it's warm, moist environment and causes an infection in the mammary. There are acute cases in which the animal may be running a temperature, have a hot and inflamed udder, and pass nothing but blood clots; or there may be a chronic issue in which the animal will produce off-flavored milk with small, white 'clots' in it. In an acute case, the animal may very well right itself and it's milk will be fine afterward. In a chronic case, the animal will continuously have recurrent or consistent flare-ups as it develops a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the staph bacteria that made a home in it's body.

In our lives, we know we are all fully capable of sin. Though we may have developed a relationship with Christ in which he's given us a new heart, we still are not perfect. The goal is holiness in our lives, but we still live in a world rampant with the dark armies that seek to steal, kill, and destroy. Our flesh likes this world and we are daily engaged in spiritual warfare to maintain our freedom in Christ. A goat is born with the ability to never have mastitis, but if it is in this 'contaminated' world, it will always run the risk. Certain goats are more resistant than others, and this is a blessing. Some goats are walking targets and we're never surprised when they are taken down.

Now, because we are still all able to sin, I consider a person who is free in Christ someone who can have 'acute' attacks of sin in their lives. For example, a person who yells at their children when they've had a particularly long day, or someone who was rude to another person in the parking lot when they were in a particular rush. These are acute 'flare-ups' of sin; they are like nasty, bloody chunks that stand out in our our life and draw great attention from people who know us well. They are normally quickly remedied and our 'milk' will taste fine after it clears up. However, there are those of us who literally function with chronic sins in our lives. We have a balance we've established in our homes and workplaces in which people can count on us being a certain way. Are we characterized as a pessimist? as being temperamental? as being rude? These are sins we've created a symbiotic relationship with and we appear normal on the surface because these are part of our daily walk. However, beneath the surface, there's a smoldering colony of darkness that is creating a literal 'off-flavor' to our lives. Daily, our Lord is drinking of our 'milk' we produce; some people are sweet after their acute case, and some are sour everyday.

What sins may we have allowed to colonize in our hearts? Do we have a relationship with sin in our lives that characterize us in a way that is very unholy?

There are ways to prevent mastitis in a herd: Cleansing, and removing carriers of the chronic cases. We must be careful to consistently wash ourselves in the Word of God and ask God to give us hearts that are sensitive to sin. Also, we need to be very careful of who we allow ourselves to be close to. Some people are breeding grounds of harmful material, and we must be careful to only offer ministry to them and not dwell in close quarters to them.

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin. (Psalm 19:12-13)

Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)



In the case of chronic mastitis, many will say to cull the animal (culling means to remove from the herd-- usually butcher). However, we're not just goats with bad milk, we are precious creatures of God that He seeks to restore. No case of sin is so bad that God can't cure it! Many dairy people that want to restore their goats with mastitis will say to massage peppermint and oregano oils into their udder. Peppermint cleanses, and oregano is a powerful agent in killing even the most sinister of diseases such as MRSA.

Search our hearts, O God, and make them new. Decolonize sin in our lives so we may not be breeding grounds for the Adversary's plan. May we be like You!


O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart
that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
your evil thoughts?
(Jeremiah 4:14)