Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by life that you weren’t sure which way to go?
I can clearly remember a season where the lines of my roles began to smudge. Like a charcoal artist who blends one edge into another, the outward circumstances I was experiencing, my physical workspace, and every one of my life roles began to blur.
While some may consider the soft contours and shading to be a beautiful, breathtaking piece of art, the only thing I was left with was the breathless overwhelm of uncertainty and clutter.
As some thrive living with clutter, I have learned that most of us do not.
Mentally, clutter is a known culprit of distraction, stress, and anxiety, lowered productivity, and can even affect your mental health, aiding in the onset of depression. Clutter can also lower your immune system by adding stress to your physical body, making it harder to fight off viruses and infection.
And along with our mental and physical well-being, clutter has a significant effect on our spiritual lives, too.
What is spiritual clutter?
Spiritual clutter can be anything in your life that blocks or distracts you from stepping into your God-given identity and calling.
While we may think of decluttering as tidying up things in our physical spaces, there are also angles that we don’t see.
They are the things that bargain for your time, such as over-scheduling your calendar, binging Netflix, or mindlessly scrolling social media. However, good, well-intentioned acts can also be a source of spiritual clutter. Things such as overserving the church and taking on many roles in ministry can also be a distraction.
How Clutter Affects Us Holistically
To thrive in life, we must take great care in regularly evaluating our diversions.
God created us as holistic beings, body, mind, and spirit. Jesus spoke on this in Matthew 22:37 when he said that we are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind.
We were created to thrive in all three aspects, and when clutter affects one area of our essence, it involves the others.
3 Ways to Declutter Your Spiritual Life
“A time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away.”
Ecclesiastes 3:6, NIV
Spiritual decluttering is often connected to physical and mental decluttering. So let’s take a look at three simple and effective ways to declutter your spiritual life.
There are many seasons of life where busyness creeps in and leaves us unable to keep our home organized.
Having a tidy workspace or home prevents us from being distracted, especially in our quiet time with the Lord. If our thoughts are racing through our endless to-do list of chores and grocery needs, we won’t be able to wholly lean into all that God is speaking to us.
Declutter Tip #1: Make a list of the areas of your home that need to be decluttered and add them to your calendar. Start small and spacing out what needs to be organized will feel less overwhelming. Or my favorite one ask for help-to get you back on track with your home so that you can focus on other things.
Our mental health is closely tied with our spiritual well-being.
Because everyone struggles with personal setbacks, childhood experiences, and heartache, keeping a journal to process pain, discouragement, and letdowns will give you space to lean into God’s voice while releasing through journaling.
Declutter Tip #2: Set a timer for 10 minutes before your quiet time with the Lord. Ask God to speak and journal out what is on your heart.
Seasons change, and so may our quiet time with the Lord.
If you are in a new season and are having a hard time implementing your previous Bible study routine, ask the Lord to reveal a fresh space. It is okay to change things around – God simply wants to spend time with you!
Declutter Tip #3: Let go of the guilt! Spending time with God can be done in the early hours of the morning, in your commute, and even as you make dinner! He can be found anywhere. Spend some time re-evaluating what that looks like for you in this season.
What area will you declutter in your spiritual life?
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