Does Your Heart Need Purging?
By Jennifer Slattery
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Ephesians 4:31
Garbage, dust, clutter, and all manner of gunk accumulates quickly. At this moment, there are enough dishrags, socks, and towels piling behind my dryer to stock a department store, and I cringe to think of all the rotting food stuck in that tiny crevice between my stove and cupboard. And if I never took out our garbage, our house would stink and become infested with cockroaches.
A few months ago, I determined to begin unburying myself from the mess I’d created. So far, I’ve tackled three rooms and have filled numerous trash bags. With every deep clean, my house feels a little brighter and my mood a little lighter.
To remain emotionally free, our hearts need similar deep cleaning. If we want to live like Christ, to love others as He does, and experience the joy and peace He promised, we must be diligent about removing all the gunk that threaten to imprison us. We can feed our anger, bitterness, and feelings of malice until our hearts become filthy, hardened, and calloused. Or, we can cooperate with God by prayerfully purging our hearts of everything, like negativity and unforgiveness, that hinders our freedom and halts our obedience.
What do you need to purge in order to maintain a clean and praise-filled heart? Take some time to pray over this now.
Jennifer Slattery is a writer, editor, speaker, and the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries. She writes for Crosswalk, is the author of eight contemporary novels, and helped write Wholly Loved’s Bible study based on the life of Sarai (Gen. 12-23) titled Becoming His Princess, available for free (in ebook form) from Wholly Loved Ministries. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall outings with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit her online at jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com.
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Originally published Thursday, 27 June 2019.
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