Need to Detox?

I’d venture to say we’re all familiar with detox diets and cleanses that rid our bodies of toxins.

There are some who claim our bodies can eliminate toxins naturally and that they don’t build up in our organs, needing cleansing from time to time.

Then there are some who stress the importance of detoxifying and cleansing our bodies occasionally.

The market is saturated with various diets and natural solutions to assist with detoxing our bodies.

A lot of folks, me included, are so concerned about our physical health that we neglect another major component and one of our greatest needs. The core of who we are resides in the depth of our hearts where everything flows out of.  

Our physical heart pumps blood to keep us alive and we need to take care of it through diet and exercise. But the part of our heart where the life of our soul and emotions live, is also pumping out stuff. Sometimes vile stuff. Sometimes sweet. It depends on what we’re feeding it.

All our life’s decisions are an extension of what resides in our hearts. A skilled heart surgeon can’t see this part of our heart even while they explore its contents to unclog veins or do damage repair.

Isn’t it weird how our soul can’t be seen with the human eye, yet it is living proof of our existence?

What we feed our soul also has an enormous impact on our well-being. I know all too well of this fact more recently than I’d like to admit.

I began 2016 with a fresh determination to be more intentional in my relationship with Jesus, by digging deeper in His word and meeting with Him every morning. I had a plan, which I shared in a post several months ago. I follow The Planting Place Bible teaching blog at The Planting Place where we’re reading the Bible in three years with a deeper focus on who God is and responding to Him.

Things were going pretty well. I was excited to feed my hunger and thirst for growth and see some progress.

Then I hit a snag. It seemed little at first. One negative thought. I pulled at it and pulled at it, like a real snag on a shirt, and I began to unravel.

It was about something purely selfish. All about me. I stopped the unraveling before it got out of control. Because God’s word is active and alive, His gentle conviction led me to repentance over the situation.

I moved on until something interrupted my quiet time with the Lord one morning and I became highly agitated. Couldn’t they see that I was busy with the Lord, for goodness sakes!? 

I’ll spare you the embarrassing details. No one else had to know or see. But God did. He had to hear the conversations in my head and see the scum in my heart. It was not pretty.

Days and days the scum accumulated, clogging my fellowship with God because I became incredibly frustrated by others’ innocence. I fed my mind and heart full of all the reasons why I was justified to feel as I did.

The more I focused on my irritation the worse things became. Slowly, I realized my quest for spiritual growth and health was all about me. All. About. Me.

One morning I couldn’t stand myself any longer and laid open my self-righteous heart before God.

I needed a heart detox and soul cleansing!

I didn’t like it at first, but I felt incredible when it was over. 

Free and light-hearted.

A lot of gunk had accumulated in my heart over time. I’d allowed apathy and anger to set in. When I began meeting the Lord daily and reading His word (even though it was about me), He turned it around for good. It’s all good!

As an occasional physical detox can do a body good, so will regular heart detoxing cleanse the soul.

How about it? Do you need a heart (soul) detox?

Feel free to share below how God has cleansed and detoxed your heart. It might encourage another who has pulled a snag and is starting to unravel.

I’m sure I’ll be doing more detoxing in the future to cleanse my soul. After all it’s what keeps me on course.

Stay the course with me,

Terri