(by Lorie Codispoti)
I’ve never liked clutter. Why? Because it feels claustrophobic and it looks messy.
The visual side of me cringes when I see someone having to remove things from their desk or counter top in order to free up space to work. This distain, however, doesn’t pair well with the pack-rat, creative, repurposing, sentimental side of me who has a hard time getting rid of things I determine have some kind of value. The challenge has always been to find a functional balance between the two.
Now, I’ve seen some pretty nasty human spaces in my day (offices, cars, homes, yards, etc.), but I’m not talking about roach infested, filth ridden environments. Clutter can exist among the most ardent of clean freaks - people whose magazines might be stacked to the ceiling, but they’re all perfectly aligned, organized by date, and void of all dust mites. This is called organized clutter, and I’m somewhat familiar with the propensity.
I know this is a completely subjective issue. What you call a collection I may classify as clutter, and vice versa. But, I think we can all agree that it doesn’t take much for an unnecessary accumulation of things to find their way into the spaces we inhabit, and overwhelm us.
According to one expert, the way to differentiate between a collection and clutter is by evaluating the emotions we experience when we view them. If you follow her steps for decluttering, you will get rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy. She says, “Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order.” (Marie Kondo)
There's value in her statement, as it speaks to the concept of material management. Everyone knows that a well managed environment is not only more productive, but it also frees up the mental capacity to enjoy that environment. However, this idea didn’t originate with Ms. Kondo. She’s merely piggy-backing on a long established biblical principal that not only works for the things we can see and feel, but it can be applied to our spiritual house. Furthermore, applying God’s method of decluttering not only brings order, by enabling us to rid ourselves of the unnecessary clutter we’ve accumulated, but it frees up space for the habitation of genuine Joy.
Ecclesiastes 3:6 says there is “a time to keep, and a time to cast away.”
(The whole book of Ecclesiastes is about man's futile attempt to gain happiness apart from God. The writer of the book (Solomon) writes from the unique vantage point of having accumulated more material, mental, and political resources of any human being up to that point in history. Yet he concludes that none of the things he has amassed has lead to joy. None of it satisfies and all of it leaves him feeling empty. In the end, he concludes that the ultimate meaning in life is found only in knowing God.)
With every new season of life comes change, and change always requires something of us if we hope to transition well.
I recently taught on the life of Leah (Jacob’s first wife). Her story is heartbreaking for several reasons, but one of them is that neither Leah or her sister (Rachel) was willing to “cast away” the emotional clutter they had amassed over the years, and it all but destroyed their relationship.
When Peter talks to believers about loving each other with a pure heart, he says that one way we do that is by “laying aside” the clutter that hinders relationships (1Pet.2:1). Rather than casting away their heart’s clutter, Leah and Rachel chose to accumulate and keep it stored in their sinful hearts. This left no room for genuine Joy. I can’t help but wonder how different things would have been had they been willing to let go of the things that kept their hearts locked in turmoil.
What does spiritual clutter look like for us today, and how do we get rid of it?
It looks like anything that comes between you and your relationship with God. That tells me that my clutter may look different than yours, but that any collection of things the Bible tells us to “cast off” qualifies as things we don’t need - no matter how sentimentally attached we’ve become.
I like what Carla Gasser writes in her article, 5 Simple Ways To Declutter Your Soul (https://carlagasser.com/5-simple-ways-to-declutter-your.../), “While we may acknowledge the need and sincerely have the desire to declutter our souls, we lack the focus, determination, and willpower to begin this painstaking process.”
This tells me that I need something (Someone) outside myself in order to succeed in my attempt to declutter my heart.
King David recognized his need for help and asked God to “search” and “point out” the things that created a wedge between him and God (Psa.139). He knew that the only way for God to “renew a right spirit” within him (Psa.51:10) was to surrender the accumulation of destructive ways to God. We too can trust God to show us areas of our heart that need decluttering when we ask for His help.
We get rid of spiritual clutter the same way David did - by asking God to show us and to help us. While the process of decluttering may be grueling at times, maintaining a clean heart is worth every effort we spend in prayer and action.
Life truly does begin when we declutter our souls and put our spiritual houses in order. Because wherever the Spirit of the Lord resides, there is the freedom to embrace and celebrate the Joy that He brings with Him.
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