{"id":20868,"date":"2023-03-28T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20868"},"modified":"2023-03-24T17:47:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T21:47:44","slug":"cleaning-up-physical-and-spiritual-clutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2023\/03\/cleaning-up-physical-and-spiritual-clutter.html","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning Up Physical And Spiritual Clutter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2023\/03\/office-2293223_1280-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20895\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2023\/03\/office-2293223_1280-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clutter, that stuff strewn everywhere that can make us anxious and stressed. It clogs up our lives and can lead to relationship fights and even unsafe conditions in our homes. Additionally, clutter can affect our focus and trigger avoidance as a coping mechanism because we feel overwhelmed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With all the problems clutter creates, why do we allow the buildup of stuff? There are many reasons, but here are a few common ones:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s hard to part with things that have sentimental meaning, e.g., children\u2019s artwork.<\/li>\n<li>Holding on means not letting go to things or people that have left us, e.g., keeping the clothes of a loved one who has died.<\/li>\n<li>The thought of, \u201cWhat if I need this item at some point in my life, e.g., that guitar I keep because I might learn to play it one day.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s hard to get organized and some disorders like ADHD and dementia make clutter more probable.<\/li>\n<li>You can\u2019t make decisions and might make a wrong one, e.g., \u201cI am not sure, so I will keep this.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Your clutter might be valuable, e.g., after watching episodes of <em>Storage Wars<\/em>, you don\u2019t want to be the person who threw out a valuable item.<\/li>\n<li>You are overwhelmed and just can\u2019t deal with things, e.g., \u201cIt\u2019s too much and I don\u2019t know where to begin.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can\u2019t help thinking that as we work on cleaning up our personal spaces, we should consider cleaning up our spiritual clutter as well. Spiritual clutter is those things that come between you and the Lord. Spiritual clutter can involve negative thoughts, holding on to resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness and pride. All clog up our relationship with the Lord and block His blessings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, whether you have physical or spiritual clutter, it\u2019s time to clean up your life! Both require examination and strategy. For physical clutter, begin to organize and tackle small things at a time. Choose one small space to clean or one small task. The point is to begin somewhere. Perhaps negotiate some help from family or friends -they can get you started and keep you on task.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, to deal with spiritual clutter, examine your heart for things that exist but should not. Pray Psalm 139: 23: \u201c<em>Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then pay attention to what the Holy Spirit points out. It can be anything that offends or needs attention in your life. Be open. Look for those things that block your relationship with Christ.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Ephesians 4:31-32 states, <i style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0This is a robust list to review for spiritual clutter.<\/p>\n<p>Let me ask you:<\/p>\n<p>What is in your spiritual closet that needs discarding?<\/p>\n<p>What gets in your way of living a life devoted to God?<\/p>\n<p>What do you need to sort and clean up?<\/p>\n<p>How can you free up space for God and allow His spirit to lead you, reorient and guide you?<\/p>\n<p>As you answer these questions, ask God to do what Psalm 51:10 says, \u201c<em>Create in me a clean heart, O God.\u201d<\/em> Then, surrender to the process!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clutter, that stuff strewn everywhere that can make us anxious and stressed. It clogs up our lives and can lead to relationship fights and even unsafe conditions in our homes. Additionally, clutter can affect our focus and trigger avoidance as a coping mechanism because we feel overwhelmed. With all the problems clutter creates, why do&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[6987,2968,2820,6984,6981,115,6978],"class_list":["post-20868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-clean-up","tag-clutter","tag-hoarding","tag-mess","tag-physical-clutter","tag-procrastination","tag-spiritual-clutter"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cleaning Up Physical And Spiritual Clutter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether you have physical or spiritual clutter, it\u2019s time to clean up your life! Both require examination and strategy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20868\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleaning Up Physical And Spiritual Clutter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether you have physical or spiritual clutter, it\u2019s time to clean up your life! 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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