Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space

by Kathi Lipp

truth-teller. (Someone who tells you the truth with love? That’s a friend. Someone who just tells you the truth? That’s a jerk.)

But knowing we aren’t lazy about the situation and fixing the situation are two different things.

By clutter I mean anything that is in your house that hasn’t earned the right to be there, or it has earned the right, but hasn’t found its permanent home.

You rearrange clutter instead of dealing with it.

Oh my gosh! So me!!!

When all your “put away places” are bursting at the seams, you will stop putting things away. It’s just too much hassle. Herein lies the reason most people don’t mind doing laundry until it comes to putting it away. Putting it away is the painful part because it requires an overhaul on every drawer you open.

Wow!! She's living in my life!

But if you can start to incorporate even a little routine into your life, it will get you so much closer to the clutter-free existence you long for.

This us where Overwhelmed comes in!

understanding and embracing these ideas will help you become radically more content in the space you’re already in.

I really need to adapt to this way if thinking. I must learn to be content with what I have and live smaller. Afterall, I DO have just my bedroom for my things.

Clutter,” but when you see in your home only those things that you use, love, and would be willing to purchase again, your home becomes a place of refuge instead of a cacophony of visual noise.

Small is good. Let’s take that time you used to work harder to earn more money so you could live in a larger space and put it toward living in (and loving) the space you’re already in.

Because I think our spirit and our stuff are linked in a multitude of ways.

But for some of us, clutter can go much deeper. It’s the piles of bills that aren’t dealt with, the stacks of unopened mail, the bags of purchases that need to be returned but won’t be. It’s the laundry that’s ignored and the piled up dishes. It’s regularly not being able to find your checkbook or your child’s schoolbooks. And yes, there is a spiritual side to that. Because what I’m describing right there? That’s a lack of peace.

When my house is so messy and cluttered that I don’t want to do the things I believe God has called me to (loving my family, working, preparing meals, spending time with him), then there’s a problem. On the other hand, when I’m spending so much of my time making sure my home is perfect that I don’t have time for those things God has called me to, that’s a problem as well.

I want you to sit down and read your Bible to get spiritually fed without being distracted by all the piles screaming at you for attention the entire time.

YES!!!!! I so need this!

I want you to be able to focus on what really matters instead of focusing on, well, what doesn’t. And I want you to have the peace—spiritually and emotionally—to be the person God created you to be.

the more stuff, the more stress. And that’s why our stuff battle is a spiritual battle.

We’ve tended to view our messy house as a lack of discipline, a reason to be mad at ourselves, but really, the battle is bigger than that.

Satan uses a lot of things to distract us. And most of the time, it’s

not bad stuff. Eating food is not bad, until we eat too much of it. Having clothes is a gift, until we can’t get dressed in the morning because we have too many choices. Kids’ toys are a blessing, until they start to look like a pile of junk because there are too many. Not only is our stuff causing us stress, it’s also a measuring stick of our spiritual lives.

Yes, Satan is using my stuff to distract me!

But is owning more really an option for someone who radically needs to declutter their life?

I do this too! I want to own Wii U and the fun games the grandkids have for theirs. But really, do I need it? No! I just want to own it. Need to ask God to remove that desire and just enjoy the game when i go visit them.

Owning things we use and love is great. Multiplying their use and usefulness is rewarding.

Don't begrudge sharing items!

Owning less stuff is the key to everything. And when your home is more open, you are more willing to open your home to others.

I think one of the greatest gifts a clutter-free life can give us is the opportunity to follow God wherever he leads. Jesus tells us exactly how to live a life that is closer to God: “Jesus said to [the rich young man], ‘If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’ ” (Matthew 19:21 NASB).

1. Walk lightly. Have as few things as possible in your possession. 2. Give what you have, both financially and materially, to the poor. 3. Follow God. You will not be encumbered by stuff, so you can follow God wherever he leads.

Owning is not bad. But we must understand that there is a price to be paid for everything we own. Owning too much chips away at our freedom.

But freedom is the knowledge that you have what you need, what you love, and you have resources to care for those that God points you to and can follow him wherever he takes you. Quite simply, every piece of clutter I give away gets me closer to the life I’m designed to live. One of peace. One of freedom.