August 29, 2014. GET RID OF THE 'CLUTTER'

Friday August 29, 2014

'...let the Spirit renew your...attitudes.' Ephesians 4:23 NLT

Get Rid of the 'Clutter'

When you sell a house, it feels great to get rid of stuff you've accumulated. You wonder why you lived so long with it weighing you down. It's the same with mental and emotional clutter. Jon Gordon says, 'Why do we fill our life with so many things that weigh us down? Thoughts that hold us back. Habits that limit us. Distractions that derail us. Negative people [who] drain us. Fear that paralyses us... time zappers that sabotage...productivity. We spend so much time...on things that don't matter - we fail to focus on what does matter. We fill up with so many things that generate negative energy, there's no room for positive energy in our lives.' Paul writes, '...throw off your...former way of life...let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.' (Ephesians 4:22-23 NLT) The clutter you need to lose includes: believing you're alone, trying to please everyone, feeling insecure, putting yourself down, needing everyone to like you, jumping to negative conclusions before you know the facts, thinking you're always right, recalling all the times you messed up, wanting to know how it all turns out, needing to have all the answers, worrying you'll lose the memories if you let go of the memorabilia, agonizing you're not rich enough, good enough or clever enough, surrounding yourself with people who recall the bad times and not the good, making energy-sucking comparisons, observing life instead of participating, believing your best days are over, constantly waiting for the right moment, fearing you'll look foolish, focusing on negative type-casting...and anything else you don't want to pass on to your children. How can you get rid of the clutter? '...let the Spirit renew your...attitudes.'

Taken from the Word for you Today Devotional