Why Your Heart Needs a Good Spring Cleaning

Embarking on a Spring Cleaning for Your Heart tends to leave people at the ends of two extremes.

I don’t need that. My heart is fine.

OR

My heart is a mess. I don’t know where to start.

Either way, I will assure you of two things. We all have work to do, and with God’s help we can do it.

I noticed something this morning. The truth was, I put it there, but it was easier to brush it aside than to deal with it at the time. There, under the dusty accomplishments and the wrung out theology, I found a seed that had sprouted.

It wasn’t a beautiful flower, but a poisonous vine that would choke out all that was good around it. And there it was staring at me from inside, letting me know it had taken up residence much like the errant Cheerio crushed under the car seat.

Just because it didn’t belong doesn’t mean it wasn’t thriving.

Our heart is busy. We love, serve, protect, wound, break, hide, and most of the time we don’t think about any of it. All of this living from our heart leaves a few things overlooked.

We all have work to do, and with God's help we can do it. {{{Spring Cleaning for Your Heart}}} Click To Tweet

Because I have a promise for you. An absolute truth that we can hold onto as we walk through this together.


Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.


Deuteronomy 31:6

We are not doing this alone. We do not have to fear what is hidden deep inside because God is there, even in the dirtiest, darkest, most hidden and neglected places.

The two things we can do to begin this process is to open our hearts honestly and to confess.

Confess the places we are wrong or sinful. Confess every cobweb of our heart to God. Allow His gentleness and love to bring light to those places and let His breath of life in.

Let us boldly throw open the curtain and open up the deepest parts of ourselves that we may live in deeper love and freedom with God and one another.

Lord, I invite you in, all the way in, to my heart.

You are good and I trust You to love me as we work together to bring Your light to every corner of my heart.

Thank you for being so gentle.

If you’ve missed any of the SPRING CLEANING series, click on the link below.

Spring is the perfect time for a good cleaning, especially for your heart!

Sharing words with these great writers! Visit them to be encouraged today!

Literacy Musing Mondays, Purposeful Faith, Tea & Word Tuesday, Abounding Grace, Trekking Thru, Tell His Story, Porch Stories, Let’s Have Coffee, Worth Beyond Rubies, Moments of Hope, Tune in Thursday, Dance with Jesus, Fresh Market Friday, Faith ‘n Friends, Blogger Voices Network, Grace & Truth, Heart Encouragement

Author: Rebecca Hastings

Rebecca is a writer and speaker encouraging women to find real faith that works in real life. A wife and mother of three in Connecticut, she can often be found typing words, driving her kids places or wherever there is chocolate.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • OH YES!
    I need ALL the spring cleaning, both inside and out, and I always appreciate the metaphor of opening up those windows for the first time and scrubbing away a winter’s worth of grime.

    Reply

  • You’re right that sometimes we’re scared to look inside for the deep cleaning. But God already knows what’s there anyway, and is just waiting for our acceptance of his help! Thanks for this prompt for inner spring cleaning, Rebecca.

    Reply

  • I’ve been working on my relationship with the Lord and I am uncovering a lot of messiness that was getting in the way of my relationship with Him. Interestingly, my favorite Psalm since becoming a believer is Psalm 139. I recently meditated on those verses again and found grace upon grace there. He discerns our thoughts and knows the words before they pass from our lips, even the sinful thoughts and words, yet He will never leave us or forsake us, but will gently lead us back to Himself.

    Thanks so much for sharing this encouragement to do some spring cleaning of our hearts.

    Reply

  • Beautiful, Rebecca! Your post reminds me of a quote from the superintendent of schools where I used to teach. He always said, “We’re good, but we could be better.” That’s how I feel about my relationship with God. My heart could always use a good spring cleaning.

    Reply

  • Yes. Our hearts all need a spring cleaning on a regular basis. We may be afraid to let God see the dark and dusty corners of our heart, but he already sees them and has grace and tenderness enough for all that he sees. Thanks for reminding us to clean our hearts.

    Reply

  • I love this spring cleaning series, Rebecca! Being honest with ourselves is sometimes one of the hardest things to do. (Jeremiah 17:9) Tweeted and pinned. Thanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!

    Reply

  • I like your point at the end of the prayer about His gentleness. We can be sure that He will be gentle with us as we allow the necessary and regular cleaning of our heart.

    Reply

  • Becky!!! I love this post! This part really stuck out to me, “Just because it didn’t belong doesn’t mean it wasn’t thriving.” That junk can sure thrive anywhere, hey? I am featuring your post along with Lisa’s on Grace & Truth this week. Lisa wrote a great article about ‘spring cleaning’ the heart, too, so I thought it would be great to feature you both.

    Reply