Many of us have a drawer, a loft, or a cupboard under the stairs where we can stash clutter and hide away things we don’t want others to see. It might hold broken things that we intend to fix ‘one day’, stuff that we haven’t got round to throwing away, and things that we just don’t know what to do with. And we also have lofts, basements and cupboards in our minds where we store and hide away mental and emotional ‘clutter’, and it’s hard for us to thrive until we begin the process of clearing it out.

We’re talking about things like 1) regrets we have over past mistakes, 2) grudges we hold on to when we feel we’ve been wronged, and 3) hurts we hide under clouds of anger, scepticism, and isolation. Clinging to hurts and nourishing grudges can eat away at our souls, consume our happiness, and halt our progress. It keeps us trapped in the past. And just like sorting through the junk in a house, once we clear out the clutter of the past, letting go of the things we don’t need and fixing the things that still have value, we get a clearer view of the good things we have in our lives right now and can appreciate them even more!

Clearing out the clutter comes down to following these two Scriptures: 1) ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors’ (Matthew 6:12 NKJV) and 2) ‘Forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT). So today, deal with the clutter, and look forward to what God’s going to do!

What Now?

Have a 'spring clean' with God today. Spend some time talking to Him about any hurts or unforgiveness that you're holding on to. Ask Him to help you begin the process of handing it over to Him.