“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke 12: 15-21
As I wind down my long working career and start to prepare for retirement and a move to a different state, I feel the urgency to simplify my life. To declutter, my office and my home, since I have far more possessions than I could ever use in a lifetime. One thing that is clear to me is that when my home or office is cluttered, I’m unproductive which creates chaos for me and those around me. By cutting down the clutter in your home to only the items you will genuinely use, you will also help yourself feel calmer and less under pressure to complete a mountain of tasks. There’s no denying that when your home and life are cluttered, you’re more likely to feel overwhelmed. More stuff equals more demands on your attention and it’s difficult to focus because you feel pulled in so many directions.
Decluttering your home is important, decluttering your spirit is equally as important.
Ephesians 4:31-32 states, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
Dealing with clutter, physical or spiritual, is a life-long endeavor. Research shows that disorganization and clutter have an increasing effect on your brain. Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganization can drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus. The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.
Just as our brains like order, our spirit man likes order as well, have you noticed how you feel or behave when you have overloaded yourself with negative content. I know for me I feel sluggish, unmotivated, and almost paralyzed. The way to rid myself of this feeling is to focus on the word of God.
Here are Bible verses to focus on that can help declutter our spirit:
- For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~~Matthew 6:21 –This is an implicit warning, that if one’s treasure is on earth, one’s heart and attention will also be on earthly matters, to the exclusion of God.
- For God is not a God of disorder but a God of peace. ~~1 Corinthians 14:33 – Paul wanted to remind born-again saints that their disorderly behavior and continual bickering was dishonoring to the Lord and contradictory to His ways. They reflected the ungodly conduct of the unsaved who are still members of a fallen creation.
- And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ~~Mark 10:21 – A wealthy young man asks Jesus about eternal life—and gets an unexpected answer in return. His response to Jesus’ answer shows that his interest in God is limited by one thing: his money. In this, Jesus reveals that those whom God blesses often value the gifts more than the Giver. We declutter our spirit when we know which is more important, just to give you a hint, it’s not our money.
- Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ~~ 1 John 2:15 – The things of the world may be desired and possessed for the uses and purposes which God intended, but believers must be careful not to seek or value possession for the purpose of abusing them. The world draws the heart from God; and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays.
These scriptures help us to see how we clutter our spirit, there are just as many that help us to declutter. As I prepare to declutter my physical house for a move, I find it’s an opportune time to do a checkup on my spirit. I’m excited to see what the Lord will do as a result of my spiritual housecleaning, there is so much more that He can pour into an empty vessel than one that is hoarded.
Songwriter puts it this way, “Lord I’m available to you, my will I give to you, I’ll do what you say do use me, Lord, to show someone the way and enable me to say, my storage is empty, and I am available to you.
There’s no time like the present to declutter, it’ll be beneficial to you and those around!!
