Purposeful and Meaningful: Spring Cleaning by Rosilind Jukic

I am glad to have my friend, Rosilind, over here today as my guest. Please read and enjoy. You can also share your comments below. We would love to hear from you.

Spring is my second-most favorite season. After the snow melts and the ground dries out, I look forward to opening my windows and letting the fresh air make our home smell wonderful.

I go through every cupboard and drawer, dusting, organizing and tossing out what we no longer need- Spring Cleaning.

I am admittedly a little “clean crazy” anyhow. I plan and wait all year for spring so I can minimize our home.

It occurred to me not long ago that our families need spring cleaning, too.

If left unchecked, the hearts in our homes can build up with clutter.

After a while, instead of a “sweet smelling savor” our lives give off a stale smell and the clutter prevents the light of Jesus from shining through.

4 Cleaning Areas For Our Spiritual Homes

1. Our words. Do our words refresh those around us or do they discourage the listener? Do we talk more about our troubles and how tired we are more than sharing the good things God has done for us?

Perhaps it’s time to do some spring cleaning in our hearts. “Out of the overflow of our heart the mouth speaks.” If our heart is filled with ungratefulness and bitterness, what will flow out will be complaining and negativity to one another.

2. Our actions. How do we treat one another? Do we take each other for granted and fail to do the same nice things for each other as we would for a coworker or neighbor? Our actions speak very loudly: whether we truly love each other or whether we’ve simply grown to tolerate those with whom we’ve built a home.

Let’s look at our hearts to see if we’ve held on to an offense that has started to fester. Perhaps its time to break up some hard places in our hearts and sow some love there!

3. Our attitudes. Attitudes are a clear reflection of hidden areas of the heart that need serious cleaning. Many times they reveal what our carefully measured words cover up because they shine through the cracks in our mask that we don’t even know are there.

Take a moment today and ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light in the dark, dusty corners of our hearts and reveal hidden attitudes that need cleansing so that they begin to reflect a heart that filled with the joy of our salvation!

4. Our habits. Habits are those things we do without thinking. They are actions that become automatic and a part of our nature over time. They can be any of the other three areas above. Maybe it’s a word that isn’t necessarily bad, but clearly reflects a negative attitude. Perhaps it’s a show we watch that we know doesn’t please the Lord.

It’s time to dig down into the Word and measure every area of our life and home until the light of the Holy Spirit can shine unhindered through us, and our lives give a fresh testimony of His goodness!

Do you have areas of your heart that need spring cleaning? What can you do today to open your heart to the Holy Spirit’s light, so He can reveal areas where dust and grime from the world have started to build up inside?

About the Author:

Rosilind, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live in the country with their 2 active boys where she enjoys fruity candles and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. She holds an Associates of Practical Theology and is passionate about discipling and encouraging women. Her passion for writing led her to author a number of BOOKS.

She is the author of A Little R & R where she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be.