Is it time to declutter?

It’s been a little crazy, sometimes painful, yet at times funny around our house these past few weeks. We have been trying to downsize, deciding what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away. Since I am a keeper and my husband is a tosser, there have been a lot of decision-making discussions going on! We are transitioning from a home to a small basement apartment, so you can imagine the dilemma.
 
What I have found to be interesting is, although I don’t like to part with stuff or change in general, the more I eliminate, the better I feel. There is a sense of freedom that comes with getting rid of excess things that you really don’t need, or haven’t used much, even though it seemed like a great thing when you acquired it. There is a saying that there comes a time when you don’t own possessions, but your possessions own you! There’s a lot of truth in that saying!
 
In reflecting on all this, I better understand how this applies to our spiritual lives and why the Scriptures instruct us over and over to declutter spiritually. Without realizing it, we tend to collect attitudes, habits, relationships, false doctrines, behaviors, etc. that are not in keeping with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. They become a way of life that will lead us away from a close relationship with God and leave us feeling weighed down, spiritually cold, passionless, and depressed.
 
Is it time to declutter? Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us.” Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us we should “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice,” and to be “kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”
 
We sometimes forget that the Scriptures that advise us to get rid of lying, selfish ambitions, anxiety, fears, abusive language, gossip, worldly desires, love of money, and all other forms of self-serving behavior were written to believers, not to sinners.
 
How about we all try to declutter spiritually in 2018 and intentionally spend more time in prayer, studying the Bible, growing closer to God, and loving and treating others as we would Christ?
 
Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
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