Is it Time to Clean up the Hidden Messes in our Hearts and our Homes?

There is something tantalizing about bright sunshine and warm air that beckons us to open our windows and let the freshness of spring drive away the staleness of winter.

With longer days (and better lighting), many of us experience an urge to clean and purge that which found a way to settle in the quiet corners of our homes during the gray winter months.

This practice of annually ridding our homes of dirt and dinge has been around for many years.

When homes relied upon coal furnaces and oil lamps to get through winter, there was a real need to clean houses come spring! Layers of soot and oil residue had to be scrubbed from furniture, windows, and walls. However, the practice of “spring cleaning” has been around for much longer than that. Countries and religions around the world celebrate different occasions in the months of March and April that call for a thorough cleaning of one’s home. We even see this practice in Jewish culture when families prepare for Passover. In remembrance of God’s instruction to the Hebrew people to make unleavened bread, Jewish families seek out and remove any trace of yeast from their homes prior to the Passover celebration. 

Spring cleaning prompts us to turn our homes inside out, seeking to eliminate grimy buildup that has gone unnoticed or just plain unaddressed.

In the same way, it is important for us to remember to take time to look in the cracks and crevices of our hearts as well. Is there any unforgiveness hiding in the dark corners? Has bitterness started to grow where an old wound festers? Has envy or judgment made a home for itself under the bed? Are little bits of bias collecting under the couch cushions?

If we don’t take time to stop and look, it can be easy for us to bypass the little messes.

The area beneath my couch cushions seems to always assemble a collection of small crumbs, hair, dirt, and other random unpleasantries. I don’t often look under my cushions because I really don’t want to see what is there! I know it won’t be a difficult clean-up, but it will take time and intentionality. Frankly, this is not a task I am eager to tackle. It is just…yucky!  I don’t see the mess daily, so it is much easier to just pretend it isn’t there. 

Oh, how often I am guilty of doing the same with my heart!

It would be so much easier to just not look. If I don’t see the jealousy, comparison, pride, or prejudice, is it really there? If I close my spiritual eyes and refuse to look does it make these sins cease to exist? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Even if I choose not to see them, God still does. No bit of dirt, dander, or dust bunny can be hidden from Him.

From time to time we all need to stop and take a good look at what is going on inside our hearts.

David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.” 

This isn’t an easy prayer. Sometimes cleaning up our hearts takes a bit more effort than just grabbing the broom and giving it a gentle sweep. We may find beliefs, behaviors, or habits lurking in there that will take a bit of time and effort to “clean up.” But, just like any other mess, if we let it go unchecked, it will only get worse. No dirt, mold, or mildew cleans itself. We have to make the effort to seek out the undesirable and, with God’s help, annihilate it from our hearts. 

When was the last time you went poking around in the dark corners of your heart to see what was hiding out in there? Are you willing to ask God to help you see the dirty/messy parts of you and allow Him to help you clean house?