Spiritual DeCluttering

A Few Minutes with God

Spiritual decluttering occurs when we decide to do the hard thing before we do the “me” thing. If that doesn’t make sense, stay tuned to learn how to declutter your life meaningfully.

Spiritual DeClutter – Finding God In The Mess – Episode 325

Decluttering is not my gift. I always think I need something, so I find a place for it, only to move it or decide months later to give it away. I’ve read so many books on decluttering and how following the important steps in the 400+ pages will make my life so much easier. Many books later, my office looked like a thrift store at times.

Why is it so difficult for some of us to part with things we will never use, articles we won’t read, or momentos (this is the hardest) that we treasure? Sometimes, keeping all of these things gives us a sense of security, and it makes us feel closer to the person to a good time in our lives rather than putting it somewhere we won’t see it.

If we must declutter, there are some steps. The best advice I ever read was to take three boxes: one to trash, one to keep, and one to donate or give away. This was simple enough for even me to implement. And when I am successful at decluttering, I feel like a weight is lifted; it is clean and sparse, and I can actually think! I can put my laptop on my desk without moving a pile of papers or books. it doesn’t help that my office is also the family office, and I file papers for business, my husband’s and mine, and a stack of things I need to shred but don’t have the time to do often. This trash takes up so much room, making me think of other areas where there is trash.

I believe decluttering can relate to the sin in my life. When we look at spiritual decluttering, we are getting rid of those things that are not helpful but harmful. And, when we do this, it can lighten our hearts. Decluttering is more than getting rid of things in our homes; in a sense, when we purge, we get rid of the trash. So, the first step in a spiritual sense is to look at the trash in our lives. I may have shared with you that I gave us reading light-hearted books for a period of time. I found that my time was eaten up by reading for pleasure and putting off all of the important things I needed to do. I decided to put that time to good use and do it for a month. Time kept extending for different reasons. It has now been over a year. There is nothing wrong with pleasure reading unless it takes over your life.

Some of us tend to be “all in” in our lives and in our focus on life. This is a good thing, but it can become an obsession or a distraction. Take an inventory of your life. What are those things keeping you from deepening your relationship with others and God? We can keep those things in moderation or put them in a giveaway later, but we can also keep an eye on the distractions.

Decluttering spiritually can be to shed those burdens. When we take a trip, we often wish to pack light, yet we take many things we do not need. I often pack and bring home half a suitcase of things I never wore or used. Burdens happen in our lives when we carry things around; they become a weight oppressing us. I talked to my brother earlier today, and he shared a situation with his friend. He was getting more and more upset as he was sharing the story. I let him vent for a while and then asked him, “Why is this upsetting you? Is this something you can change?” He agreed he could not change it but had been carrying around this burden that was no fault of his own.

Do we do this? Do we carry the baggage of others? Take inventory of this and think about it. This could be the situation with a child or a family member. Sometimes, we want more for them than they want for themselves. And this is exactly what the Lord wants for us. He wants more than we want for ourselves! When we give to the Lord what is truly His, we can live lives that are less burdened.

Spiritual decluttering can be purging our lives of social media for a time. I’ve often shared how I’ve done this with the news since 90% of it is sensationalized for profit. Bad news sells. Spending too much time on social media can cause difficulties in our lives.

Forgiveness is another way to declutter our lives. We ask the Lord to help us forgive others and allow God to heal any hurts in our lives.

Decluttering is the same as unburdening and we will find we are walking tall in the sense of not carrying all that baggage.

Psalm 51:10 (Read on air)

This new and right spirit will allow you to rejoice and become the version that God wants you to be, and in this way, you can minister to others by your witness.

Matthew 5:16 (Read on air.

Let’s Pray:

We ask YOU, Lord, to allow your light to shine in us so that others may see this – I want to be “all in” for you and to give you all the glory you deserve. Friends, I pray this for you in this new year: that you are blessed and unburdened and rejoice in today, the day the Lord has made. Amen!

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