“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:31-32

Clutter, it accumulates easily, and as it does, it becomes a bigger impediment to our lives. Spiritual clutter, restricts our growth and hampers our faith.

One person who commented on the last post, raised an important point. Some things that clutter our lives can actually be fodder for growth and creativity as we mature. This week, I spent some time unpacking my studio. There were boxes of art supplies for me to go through. There still are, but what I did sort through revealed many things I forgot I possessed, and a few things I thought I disposed of. Many of these items provided some fresh inspiration for new projects, and I am glad they were still there to be found.

Not everything that appears to be clutter actually is, however, many things we become accustomed to may be more of a hinderance that we actually know. Looking for space in my studio revealed a number of things that were merely taking up valuable space. I feel attached to them because they were with me for quite a while, but it may be time for me to embrace greater simplicity. Maybe simplifying will be a good topic for the future. For the moment, let’s further consider our spiritual clutter. Tuesday, we looked at some of the larger pieces of spiritual clutter. Today, lets consider some other negative things that take up valuable space in our hearts.

Anger – We all get angry. People and things frustrate us, they hurt us, and from those initial emotions, anger develops. Anger is always a secondary emotion, but it is a powerful one, and when we harbor anger in our hearts, it damages our relationships. There is a place for righteous anger, but all too often we use that exemption to maintain harmful forms of anger adorned in righteous coverings. Real anger separates. It fuels division, and restricts healthy relationships. It affects our relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves.

Anger is toxic, and it is contagious. As the old axiom goes, “hurting people hurt people.” That is why the Scripture enjoins us to put it away along with bitterness, slander, and malice. Harboring these emotions, or acting on them, leads to great pain for everyone involved. The more we nurture them, the larger, and stronger, they become. This is a form of clutter that can choke the life out of our spirit.

Unforgiveness – Closely related to anger, the lack of forgiveness fosters pain in our spiritual life. People do harmful things and it is hard to release those experiences, and even harder to forgive those who caused them. However, our inability to forgive will never right the wrongs, nor will it lead to healing. Ultimately, it will attack and consume us without justice or restoration. As someone once said, “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” When we forgive, we do not condone harmful actions, nor do we excuse the people who did us harm, however, we stop the cycle of harm in our lives and free ourselves from the grip of our wounds. It is not easy to forgive, but the more we realize our own need for forgiveness, it becomes easier to extend it to others.

Bitterness and Hate – These are burdens that are simply to heavy to carry. They cause us to elevate ourselves above others. We begin to embrace an attitude of superiority which leads to judgement, discrimination, and destruction. Slander and gossip follow, as we seek to demean someone else in order to feel better ourselves. Many, if not all, of the “isms” we face in our society find their roots in bitterness and hate. When we pull up these roots, we destroy their fruit as well. The more that we embrace the Biblical call to be kind, tenderhearted, and loving, the more that we reflect the heart of God and find peace in our lives.

As I reflect on these harmful forms of spiritual clutter, I am reminded of all of the broken things I kept in my life because they were familiar, or filled with emotional connections. No matter what memories I connected with them, they were no less broken. Likewise, holding on to places of spiritual brokenness is equally unhelpful, and only prevents us from receiving the wholeness God designed for us.

There are numerous, other pieces of spiritual clutter that affect our faith journey, and there are things that may be obstacles in each of our lives that may not be issues for others. If we truly desire to live in God’s hope and peace, we ought accept the challenge to do the necessary, personal house cleaning. The Psalmist said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:22-23) Maybe this should be a regular prayer.

If we will let God shine the light into our lives, God will reveal any grievous thing that needs to be removed. Then, we can trust the love of Jesus to cleanse us, and the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to release the clutter, giving greater space for the Sprit to fill us. It sounds intimidating, but it seems like a very good trade to me.