Have a Clean Heart with These 3 Ways

Have negative voices become the voice of your heart? How can we have a clean heart? Are your days filled with complaints about everything, to the point that you find it hard to see the positive things in your life? 

“Life is really hard, isn't it? Finding a job is hard, making money is hard, finding a boyfriend or girlfriend is hard, and even after getting married it's still hard, having children is complicated to take care of. Everything is hard.”

“Why was I born into a family like this? It feels like there is nothing good in my family.”

“Why is my boyfriend not attentive? Why am I not as beautiful as her? Why does life feel so unfair to me?”

How do you view the life you are living right now? 

Glasses and a Clean Heart

One time, heavy rain and strong winds poured down on me on my way home. Even though I was using an umbrella, I still got soaking wet. The most annoying thing was my wet glasses. As someone with myopia (nearsightedness) with a prescription of more than minus 5, blurry glasses made it hard for me to see clearly. As a result, I had to walk home very carefully.

A clean heart is like clean glasses. With it, we can see everything in a more positive and beautiful way.

When our hearts are dirty, unclean, everything around us looks negative. But when our hearts are clean, we can see the beauty in life. We can see how good the people around us are, feel how good God is, be grateful, and even enjoy life with all its dynamics.

Here are three steps we can apply so that our hearts remain clean:

1. Guard It with God's Word

One day I was exchanging stories about my background with a friend I had just met at church. That was when I realized that almost everything coming out of my mouth was a complaint. I could hardly see anything good around me. All I talked about was other people's faults or situations that were not ideal. 

My friend then asked about my quiet time. Only then did I remember that for several weeks my quiet time had been a mess. I would only read the Bible briefly, then go to sleep. Hearing that, he challenged me to restore the quality of my quiet time and my relationship with God. The goal was that I would have a clean heart, so that everything I saw would become clean as well. 

Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. – Proverbs 4:23

What God's word says is true: we need to guard our hearts. When our hearts are clean, our words are clean too. When our hearts are clean, our attitude will also be clean, and this will lead us to healthy habits as well. And in the end, it shapes healthy character within us.  

One way to have a clean heart is by putting God's word into practice. 

How can a young person keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. Psalm 119:9

The human heart easily becomes deceitful and hard (Jeremiah 17:9). That is the natural tendency of our hearts. Reading God's word every day and putting it into practice will help keep our hearts clean.

2. Have an Uplifting Community

How can you have a clean heart if your friends always throw around harsh, dirty words, curses, complaints, talk about negative things, and speak badly about others? It is like being in a room with poisonous air, but we do not want to leave that room. Sooner or later, we will “pass out.” Or, we will be carried along and become like those people.

1 Corinthians 15:33 writes, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” So, you need a good support system . Placing yourself among positive people, whose hearts are clean, will also make you have a clean heart. Whenever you have negative thoughts, your community will bring positive things, so that you become positive again. 

If you have not yet found a suitable community that can help you have a clean heart, you can join us. You can fill out the form at the end of this article, or contact the WhatsApp number 0821-2285-8686.

3. Practice Gratitude

It is in gratitude that we can see so many good things around us. Sometimes I complain because I am stressed by work that never seems to end. Yet gratitude enables me to see that I am far more fortunate than people who currently do not have a job. 

There are also times when I get upset because when I am tired, busy, or not in the mood, my mother asks me to cook. However, gratitude reminds me that I still have parents to this day, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that was raging.

When I go to bed and remember all of God's goodness throughout that day, I can feel how beautiful my life is. Gratitude enables me to see life from a different perspective, so that my heart is clean from grumbling or dissatisfaction. 

Gratitude does not come just like that, but needs to be practiced. If you always complain, think negatively, feel that life is hard and far from ideal, practice being grateful. In fact, God Himself asks us to do everything with gratitude to Him. 

Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly, so that with all wisdom you may teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and as you sing, may you give thanks to God in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God our Father. – Colossians 3:16-17  - One way to practice gratitude is by writing down what you are grateful for in your gratitude journal. Before going to sleep, write these things in your notebook or digital notes: 

1. Today I am grateful because … 
2. Today I am grateful because … 
3. and so on.

Being grateful may not immediately solve your problems, but it keeps you from losing your joy today. So, keep being grateful so that your heart becomes clean!

A clean heart enables us to see everything from the positive side. By guarding our hearts according to God's word, having a community and friends who build us up, and training ourselves to be grateful, we can have a clean heart. Keep it up! -  Related Articles:

• Get Rid of Envy, the Obstacle to Life's Progress
• Finding It Hard to Be Grateful? Practice This Mindset!
• 3 Important Benefits of Reading God's Word Every Day
• 7 Signs of a Hard Heart, Recognize Them Early
• What Kind of Heart Does God Want?

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