I’ve been working for months on a series about building A Rich and Satisfying Life, a life free from the clutter of both wrong thoughts, attitudes, expectations, and too-full calendars, as well as physical clutter. This is an outgrowth of my One Word 2022, which is “purge.” What I discovered was most clutter was in my brain. It just manifested itself into my physical surroundings.

IT’S CRUCIAL WHERE WE ALLOW OUR THOUGHTS TO DWELL

I decided to ask three of my people their thoughts on purging both mental and physical clutter; and their answers lined up with my feelings about clutter and the importance of a person’s thought life.

PHYSICAL CLUTTER

First, I asked them what material possessions were the hardest to purge from their lives. One felt sentimental items such as baby pictures and yearbooks and other irreplaceable mementoes must be saved; another could not bear to purge her book collections.

The point is not getting rid of every physical possession. You should keep things that matter to you. I am reminded of a quote from Day 18 of my series, Keep Only What is Useful and Beautiful:

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful

WILLIAM MORRIS

In order to have room for the beautiful or the useful, we have to purge the unnecessary.

MENTAL CLUTTER

I then asked, “What is the hardest emotion or attitude for you to purge, and why?”

My friends agreed that negative feelings stemming from criticism from self, others or even spiritual enemies are the hardest to purge from their thoughts. Also, regrets and thoughts of “what might have been” are hard to battle.

Hands down, they agreed they would rather work on removing a mindset than a possession because possessions are just an outgrowth of the mindset within.

My mindset affects me every day, and the material possession rarely affects me at all.

ELISSA MILLER

So, how do we get rid of troubling mindsets? It’s all about the thoughts we allow to dwell in our brains.

I have no control of things around me; but I do have control over my mind. 

CORA MILLER

My friend, Dayna, suggests finding a scripture to oppose the negative thought you are experiencing.

When I think that I am unlovable, I must grab that thought and remind myself that God loves me with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). When I feel like I have no hope, future, or purpose, I remind myself that God has a future for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and if He has a future, then he has a purpose. The one scripture that has helped me the most to purge all the negativity and thoughts/feelings that bound me up, is found in Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult you with loud singing.”

DAYNA KILLIAN NORTHINGTON

REPLACE THE NEGATIVE

It’s vital to replace those thoughts and attitudes you’ve decided to ditch.  If you don’t replace them with something uplifting and positive to dwell on, they have a habit of sneaking back and bringing other bad thoughts with them. I think my friend, Dayna, has the right idea. Using scripture to replace those bad thoughts is smart;  because scripture never returns void, it always accomplishes God’s purposes.

WHAT I NOW KNOW

As I finish up these 28 posts addressing clutter, both physical and mental, the overarching theme has become this: It’s all about our thought-life. Physical clutter only comes because of despair when we are burdened with weighed-down thinking.

Although this series is concluding, I’m going to continue taking steps to free up my thinking, because I’ve found what Dayna shared is true, “Purging does bring liberty.” If you’d like to join me, I’m sharing just a few of the highlights from some of my 28 articles, but I encourage you to bookmark the series’ landing page (found here) for future reference. I’m finding going back and re-reading motivates me all over again.

HERE ARE SOME NUGGETS FROM PREVIOUS POSTS:

• My child, never drift off course from these two goals for your life: to walk in wisdom and to discover your purpose. Prov. 3:21 TPT – From the very first post, Longing: A Rich and Satisfying Life
• I’m in charge of how many things invade my personal space. I don’t have to buy something just because it is a good price. – Ordinary Steps to a Rich and Satisfying Life.
• You must be sober and vigilant or your enemy, clutter, will creep back in and devour you! – A Whole Raft of Clutter Does Not Enrich Your Life
• Instead of bringing into my home things to make it cozy; I want to clear things out of my home to make it calm. – Nesting to Prepare for a Rich and Satisfying Life.
• The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.John 10:10 NLT – I’m a Sheep in Search of a Shepherd
• Don’t gather treasure in the wrong realm. Gathering things in this life leads to a day when your family will have to do something with all your stuff. Spend more time accumulating for eternity! – Keeping Your Focus in the Midst of Ease
• What if you believed, really believed, that goodness and mercy was going to chase you down this year? Whispered to me by GOD, based on Psalm 23:6 – A Rich and Satisfying Life After Devastation

Hey! I’m on a journey, and don’t pretend I’m doing all this perfectly. I’m sharing the goals and dreams I have in my heart in this series, “A Rich and Satisfying Life.”  This is my twenty-eighth post of examining a life free from the clutter of both wrong thoughts, attitudes, expectations, and too-full calendars, as well as physical clutter. You can click here to see all the links to the series.

This series is part of a Write28Days challenge sponsored by Anita Ojeda. The challenge is now over; but I kept working at the goal of writing 28 times on my subject, and today, I FINISHED.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy.

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