Following Your Heart

"If you have a chest full of clothing, and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after awhile, they will spoil and turn bad." --Abbot Pastor

Have you ever put off saying a kind word or reaching out to someone who needed encouragement or attention? Have you ever received a subtle nudge in your heart to do something for someone but then allowed other things to get in the way? Maybe the thought keeps coming back, but so much time has elapsed that it no longer seems relevant.

Sometimes we resist the impulse in our hearts for so long that the original kind and loving thought becomes a screaming "should" in our minds, so much so that we begin to resent the one we were nudged to touch, or we beat ourselves up for not having done whatever it was we felt inspired to do.

At other times we may harbor hurt feelings. A heart full of anger or bitterness or pain can wreak all kinds of havoc and destruction. Just read today's news and you will find vivid examples to illustrate that.

What thoughts are you carrying around in your heart today? What loving action are you willing to take to keep them from spoiling or turning bad?

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." -Psalm 51:10