We all have emotional attics and basements where we store our ‘clutter’. And it’s the same in our relationships. It’s hard for a relationship to thrive when either party hasn’t processed their mental and emotional clutter. We are talking about 1) regrets we have over past mistakes, 2) grudges we hold on to when we feel we have been wronged, and 3) hurts we hide under clouds of anger, scepticism, and isolation.

If you’re the type to hold grudges and hang on to past mistakes, even your own, you know the feeling of being weighed down by your mental and emotional clutter. Clinging to hurts and nourishing grudges will eat your soul, consume your happiness, and rob you of all progress. Like blame, this junk keeps you trapped in the past. If an old beau has hurt you and you have never let it go, every time your mate does something like it, you will react with unjustified fervour, as if they were the original person who hurt you. As a result, your mate is left upset and baffled at your excessive reaction to a slight infraction that on its own was insignificant. You won’t know what you have in your life, let alone what you need, until you clear out the clutter of the past so that you can experience the blessings of the ‘here and now’.

It all comes down to obeying these two Scriptures: 1) ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors’ (Matthew 6:12 NKJV) and 2) ‘Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV). Today, deal with the clutter.