KEEP YOUR HEART CLEAN

Is your heart clean? It’s so easy for our hearts to become contaminated. Someone offends you and you hold on to the offense, you get jealous and envy sets in, you start resenting a situation or someone and it turns into bitterness, someone hurts you and you hold onto un-forgiveness rather than releasing them to the Lord….the list can go on and on. At any given time on any given day, weeds can spring up in our hearts and hinder us in our walk with the Lord. Scripture says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Every day, we need to guard our hearts and deal with anything that comes up. Pray Psalm 139:23 over your heart daily. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

As the Lord reveals things to you, deal with them. Repent and ask for forgiveness for any offense, bitterness, pride, jealousy, envy, un-forgiveness, judgement slander, anger, etc. Psalm 51:17 says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” A broken, contrite heart is a humble, penitent or repentant, heart. God loves when we humble ourselves before Him and repent when we fall short and sin. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

God knows that we will never be perfect but He wants us to have a perfect hearts towards Him. That means, when we mess up, He wants us to humble ourselves and repent. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God wants our hearts to be clean. He wants them to be pure. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” When our hearts are pure before the Lord, we will see more of Him in our lives. When there’s nothing blocking your relationship with Him, you will have fellowship with God like you’ve never experienced before.

Every time that we humble ourselves and repent when our flesh wants to hold onto pride, we become more like Jesus. Every time that we forgive others, we then allow God to forgive us. Scripture says that if we don’t forgive others of their sins, then the Father will not forgive us of our sins (Matthew 6:15). Every time that we overlook an offense, we become more like Christ. Proverbs 19:11 says, “A person’s wisdom yields patience, it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” Every time that we let go of bitterness, we get rid of the poison contaminating our own heart and lives. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.” Every time we take the high road and release those “yucky” things in our hearts to the Lord, we not only purify our hearts but we become more like Jesus.

Just this week, I realized that I had let resentment into my heart and it was starting to affect a relationship of mine as well as, my relationship with the Lord. I wasn’t hearing from the Lord or experiencing the intimate fellowship like I usually do and I couldn’t figure out why. After praying, I finally realized that the resentment I was holding on to was contaminating me and blocking my fellowship with the Lord. I had to repent not only to God, but also to that person. It’s so freeing when your heart is clean.

I encourage you to examine your heart today and ask the Lord to search your heart and get rid of anything that is not pleasing to Him. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” – Psalm 51:10

- Amber Cunningham