Inside Out: A 40 Day Journey to Transforming Your HeartSample

Clean Heart

Our homes are to be our safe retreat from the world. A place where we can be our true selves, putting on our comfy clothes to relax and rejuvenate. The reality is, our homes can be the busiest, most tension-filled environments we experience.  Unless you live alone, you live with other sin-filled people who also need their hearts desperately cleaned by the Savior. Some may be followers of Jesus; some may not.  If there are unbelievers in your home, they don't even have the Holy Spirit inside of them to help them overcome their flesh and temptations. It's even harder for them to live out anything that resembles the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

One of the most critical places to ponder how our hearts are doing is to observe how we respond and react to the people who live inside our home. Maybe you have a roommate that has different standards of cleanliness. Maybe your in-laws or parents live with you, and it gets confusing who is in control of the household. Perhaps you have a blended marriage with step-children, and it feels complicated to know how to lead and guide them. Maybe you are living with your adult children who have different lifestyle choices than you. We cannot control the hearts of those who live within the walls of our homes, but we can control ours.  

How are we choosing to love, forgive, give grace, resolve conflict, and not hold on to hurt or bitterness? Maybe this is where we need to pray for a clean heart next. James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purity your hearts, you double-minded." We cannot appear to have a clean heart when we engage with our neighbors, friends, and co-workers and then allow the sin in our hearts to creep out with our family and roommates in our homes. That is hypercritical and being double-minded. When we are tired and want a day off, we can truly see if we are living in our flesh or drawing near to God to cleanse our hearts. 

A double life can occur when what we do at home is not what we do in public.  Are you calm with everyone but your children and spouse? Do you give grace to those you lead but not those you live with? A double life can occur by what we do when we are alone.  What do we look at on our phones or computers that is inappropriate? What do we do in our bedrooms that we want to keep behind locked doors? We need to continue to do surgery on our hearts if we're going to live in integrity. Psalm 101:2 says, "I will ponder the way that is blameless.  Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house." To have a clean heart, we must have integrity. 

Who we are at home is who we are in our hearts. No one should be able to blame us for sinful attitudes or actions if we are pursuing holiness. This is the best witness we can have with non-believers who live with us.  When they see our transformation at home, they will know our change is real. It may even increase their desire for transformation. I Thessalonians 3:12-13 says, "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." A clean heart is a blameless heart. Maybe this is the next place we need to invite our Holy God to clean so that we can transform from the inside out.

Take a Moment:

• In what ways can you further clean your heart when you are at home? 

• Why is living with integrity when no one is around important? 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I know that having a clean heart at home is impossible without Your Spirit's empowerment. I pray as King David did in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Give me love, patience, kindness, and self-control with those I live with.  Help me to walk in integrity when I am alone. Help me pursue blamelessness to be an example to those I live with of how Your power changes people when we invite You to transform us.  Amen.