Clearing the Clutter

I always like the feeling of clearing away the clutter in my home - getting rid of things I don't use anymore or items that are taking up too much space.

As Christmas has come to an end, part of me really likes to get my house back to normal even though I LOVE Christmas decorations. I start putting Christmas items away. Before you know it, I want to tackle the kitchen cupboards, bathroom drawers, and my closet. It just feels good to clear the clutter and get organized. There is a sense of peace and accomplishment to put things in order. Okay, maybe that is the perfectionist in me trying to sneak out, but she's useful sometimes!

Webster's Dictionary defines clutter as: "to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness." I'm sure we all have items or ideas that impede us from moving forward and reduce our effectiveness in what we are called to do.

However, the clutter that I want to address in this blog is the thoughts or habits we have "collected" throughout our lives that hinder us in one way or another. Your clutter might look like self-doubt or not feeling like you're good enough. Worse yet, negative thoughts from past offenses can take up precious space in our minds. Those are just a couple of examples of clutter in our minds that will weigh us down or prevent us from living the life we desire.

People will often say that they "tried" the God thing to deal with the clutter in their life, but nothing changed. First of all, there are many things wrong with that statement. God isn't something you "try" like a new restaurant to see if you like the food. Developing any new habit takes time and effort. The same is valid for clearing the clutter in your mind. It will take discipline and fortitude to renew your mind and create habits to keep your life clutter-free.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

This verse helps to identify the clutter in our lives. Simply put, It is anything physical, mental, or spiritual that comes between you and God. The devil wants to use anything he can to impede your view of Jesus. If he can get your attention on other things, he can easily snare you.

There are three rooms in your mind that collect clutter - each in a different way. Those rooms are the past, the present, and the future. We often collect the broken moments in our lives that we either think we can fix it some point or things that we hold on to, and we're not exactly sure why. They are the spaces that we close the door to when others are around, so they can't see the mess we just don't have the time or the energy to deal with. I will address how to declutter these spaces in our minds in the following blog posts this month. However, right now, I would like to just identify the clutter to begin processing through how to get rid of it.

The Clutter of the Past

Okay, how many of you replay the negative scenarios from the past in your mind over and over again? I believe I can see almost every hand go up. We relive the painful wounds from the past every time we rewind and press play. That destructive cycle will clutter your mind with the deadliest toxin you could ever put into yourself - unforgiveness.

Mark 11:25-26 reads, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

This is a serious verse with serious implications for not forgiving. God's Kingdom works by love. In other words, if you desire the blessing of God to flow to you and through you, you better declutter the path to your life by acting in love. 1 Cor. 13:5 in the amplified version reads, "... it (love) is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong)." You might think that it is impossible to forgive certain people or situations or that you will forgive but not forget. I want to let you know that it is possible, and I will be giving you the tools to do just that during the month of February.

The Clutter in the Present

Let's re-read Hebrews 12:1. It says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

The clutter that we deal with every day in our lives is significantly due to the sin we don't get rid of. I know that sin is not a fun topic to talk about, but it is needful if you want to be set free from the weight holding you down.

Remember how I said that clutter is anything physical, mental, or spiritual that comes between you and God? The most significant wedge that you can put between you and God is your sin that you try to hide. Don't get me wrong, God loves us and is incredibly merciful to us despite the sin we continually commit. His grace is there to cover that sin and help us to TURN from it. However, it seems that many Christians have gotten the idea that because of grace, we can continue in our sin because God loves us no matter what.

The sin in your life will NEVER cause God to not love you; Jesus loved us and died for us because when we were sinners. However, it WILL hinder you from living in victory, peace, and joy.

The Clutter of the Future

This might seem like a weird one, but we clutter the future of our lives all the time - some of you are even professionals at it! So, what clutters the future? WORRY.

Matt 6:34 says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Life is tough enough - you don't need to add to it with fear of the "What ifs."

Phil 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I love that Paul, the writer of Philippians, doesn't leave it just by telling us not to worry. He goes on to tell us what we need to be filling our minds with. Verse 8 reads, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."

My son and I created a digital magazine called "Renew" to help you meditate on the word, especially when worry, anxiety, and depression want to clutter your mind. It contains 21 verses and confessions (prayers), which are tools to help rid the clutter of worry and anxiety in your life. Just click on the link below for your FREE download.

Remember that just as clearing the clutter in your home can be a process, clearing the clutter in your mind is also just that - a process. However, I promise that if you stick with the process and diligently work at it a little at a time, you will have a clutter-free mind full of peace and joy.