Spring Cleaning our Hearts

By: Melanie 

It's nearing spring which means it's my favorite time of year! It's time for spring cleaning! I absolutely love organizing -- reaching back into the dark recesses of my messy closet, pulling out all of the forgotten items, carefully selecting which items to keep or donate, and then putting the simplified closet back together in a neat, orderly manner.

When my label-maker comes up, then you know I'm definitely in my happy place.

I'll even make plans for what to clean and a "to do" list for all of the areas I want to make sure to clean out and organize.

As I was thinking about spring cleaning this year, it dawned on me that what I really need to spring clean is my heart. Life has been busy, and in the chaos, my heart has started to resemble the disarray and clutter of my closet. 

How does one go about spring cleaning their heart? I think we tackle it like we would our closets... by following these steps: 

Pull Everything Out of Hiding

Just like reaching back into the dark recesses of our closets, we must reach deep within our hearts to those dark places that we would rather forget. What do we find there? Hidden sin -- check. Old grudges - check. Jealousy and envy -- check, check.

Sometimes we forget about these little sins and think they're no big deal. We think we have them all under control and that our sins are certainly not as bad as "other" people. 

However, after pulling them out of hiding, we remember that all of us have sinned. We are all in need of a Savior.

Let's all take a moment after pulling out these hidden sins to talk with God about them, confess our sins, and believe that He will forgive us.

Which to Keep? Which to Trash?

Next, after examining our hearts, I think we need to take a moment to decide what parts of our lives to keep and which needs to go into the trash. 

Are there any habits that strengthen your relationship with God, like daily Bible reading and prayer? Keep those habits for sure! Place those habits on a high priority shelf in your heart so that you will be reminded to do them each day.

Likewise, are there any habits that weaken your relationship with God? When you find those, simply acknowledge that those habits are not serving you and trash them! Anything separating you from God's love is not worth keeping!

Put it all Together with Joy!

Now that you've separated which habits to keep and which to toss, think of your ideal relationship with God. What does that look like? Perhaps you feel the nudge to get involved in your local church or start singing in the worship choir. I encourage you to take this opportunity to put together a list and pursue it with joy! 

Spring cleaning our hearts can be an exciting time to revitalize our relationships with God and to pursue Him more. What other ideas would you add to the list?