When I walk into a room and it’s cluttered, I feel unsettled. If my work table is messy, my mind gets messy, and I find it hard to focus. I’m the type of person that really needs a clean slate to be able to work well. My major in university was visual arts, maybe I’m used to that clean white canvas or white paper before I am able to even start anything creative.

So I make it a habit to continuously clean my house, my workspace, and even my computer screen. Then once in a while, I like to “clean the closet,” which takes a lot more time. But once I organize my closet, getting ready takes much less time and I feel better, I look better wearing clothes that are nicely hanging instead of strewn on the floor, and I feel more confident thanks to that – all great results.

It’s the same with my mind and heart cluttering up with negative thoughts. Maybe I can brush off some quick offenses on a daily basis. But sometimes I need a deep clean, I need to actually set aside time and ask myself, “Why is this upsetting me right now?” or “Where does this anger or frustration really come from?” or “Have I really forgiven that person?” Because each one of those thoughts become heavy on my shoulders if it’s unresolved. So I need to make sure I “clean my heart” every once in a while too. Do you like to do that? Have you ever tried it?

Is there something messy in your heart? 
Maybe a mistake in your past.
Maybe you’re ashamed about something.
Maybe you haven’t forgiven someone.
And it’s this heavy story or heavy secret that you have in your life, in the dark deep corner of your heart.
There’s a phrase in English that’s kind of silly but helps remind you how important this process of cleaning out your heart is: “Skeletons in the closet.” It means, something bad or negative, like a secret that you don’t want anyone to know about. In Japanese its called Dark History 黒歴史.

Maybe this is a good time to clean out the skeletons in your closet too! Think about what is bothering you lately, and make the conscious decision of “I’m not going to let this bother me anymore. I’m not going to let this steal my joy anymore. I let it go, I take it out of my heart and mind and throw it in the trash,” and for Christians reading this, you can pray to God to help you do that, because sometimes it can be hard to forgive or let something go. You can pray for that strength and give any hurts or pains to Jesus, He is always willing to help take that burden off of your shoulders. So have you prayed about that heaviness in your heart yet?  Why don’t you try it? It takes just a few minutes, but you’ll have a lot more space in your heart for this new spring season ahead!

~

There’s a beautiful worship hymn called “clean heart” that maybe you have heard before. Released in 1998. Simple lyrics.
“Create in me a Clean Heart” by Keith Green 

“Create in me a clean heart
And renew a right spirit within me. 
Restore the joy in me!”

Let’s do that this spring season!