A Time to "De-clutter"

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here is one of those activities it is probably TIME to make happen.

It is TIME TO DE-CLUTTER !!!

This post is a follow-up thought from yesterday. Because we usually let life just happen to us, our life increasingly gets more and more stuff in it.  More and more:

things/possessions

activities

responsibilities/duties

opportunities

burdens/obligations

stuff . . .

All the time, we are accumulating, increasing, adding to our lives, until they are so full, we have no margins left at all. We are maxed out, stuff is bursting out, we are stressed out.

So, every now and then, we need to do some serious De-cluttering of our lives.  My wife Becky is one of the best de-cumulators I know. She is always de-cluttering, getting rid of stuff, down-sizing. Many years ago, when we were house hunting in York, one house we looked at had so much STUFF everywhere, we just wondered - how could anyone accumulate so much STUFF?

But most of us do accumulate way too much stuff.  So, why don't you declare a season of De-cluttering for the next month.  Here are a few questions/suggestions to guide you:

ONE:  What possessions can we give away?  These are the things that we really don't use that much. They just take up space in our life. At one time we wanted them, we bought them and we enjoyed them. But now, they just kind of sit there. Make the list as long as you can and get rid of it. If it is good stuff, take it to the Salvation  Army or some other organization that will make it available to those who don't have much?

TWO:  In what ways have I over committed myself? Many of us have very good hearts and we can easily take on too many responsibilities. Are we doing too much? Saying yes to too many ministry needs? Pitching in too many times to help out.  I know this one may sound strange, but we need to stop doing a lot of things so we may have more time and energy to focus on the few better things. So, make your list. If you want, create a ranking system to help you. Maybe non-negotiable, questionable and definitely must go.

THREE:  Get a copy of Richard Swenson's excellent devotional - A Minute of Margin. It is outstanding as it seeks to help us simplify, de-clutter, and get margin back into our lives. Why this will be important is that for most of us, the ideas in this post are too counter-cultural and we are going to need some time and motivation to follow through with it. Swenson will help you.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International