Joey and Carla Link
February 12, 2025
When I see a heart, I think of love. If you asked your kids what they think of when they hear the word “love” they would probably say they think of hugs and kisses and cuddling with you. And when you think of love and hearts, you think of something beautiful.
Our hearts can get dirty too. In Mark 7:14, Jesus says that it isn’t the dirt on the outside that makes us unclean, but it is what is rooted in our hearts that makes us smell bad. Our kids can roll around in the sand all they want. I (Carla) can look dusty and dirty after a day cleaning out old boxes of stuff. After working in his woodshop on a project, sanding and staining the wood, Joey comes out with wood chips all over him. Jesus said none of this makes us unclean. It makes us feel like we need a bath or shower, but we can wash it off and be clean on the outside when we are done.
We know you are committed to making sure your kids get their teeth brushed and their bodies bathed. Have you ever thought about how much time and effort you give to cleaning up your kids’ hearts in comparison to how much time and attention you give to cleaning their outward appearance?
How do you give your kids’ hearts a bath? Unfortunately, it takes a lot longer than the 15 minutes it takes to scrub their little bodies in the bathtub. How long will it take you to scrub bad actions and attitudes out of each of your kids’ hearts? It all depends on how deeply rooted they are.
You need to start with looking at how well they do what you tell them to do, when you tell them to do it and with a happy attitude. When a child/teen scores 85% on this, make a list of character traits like kindness and patience and give them a grade on how they are doing on each one. One of your kids isn’t loving? Get to work on his/her unloving heart. Ask this child to pick a sibling each week and tell you one way each day he/she is going to show him/her love.
Cleaning the dirt out of your kids’ hearts has much more eternal value than the sports’ practices, elective classes and events they participate in. We had a rule our kids could only be involved in one extra-curricular thing a season. This gave us time to get our kids’ hearts clean and keep them there!
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10 (NRSV)
Leave a Reply