Declutter Your Life From A Christain Perspective

 

Decluttering your life, simple living, minimalism, these are all buzz word terms that you may be hearing a lot recently and it is for a good reason. 

 

It seems that somewhere along the line someone decided that we need to always be busy, running from activity to activity, and then everyone else agreed and followed along. 

 

I’m here to reassure you that you don’t always have to be busy to be “successful.” You can live a fulfilled life without all the hustle and bustle. In fact, I believe you will be happier if you let go of a few things and leave room for breathing in your life. 

 

I am the type of person who feels useless or antsy if I’m not doing enough. I fight the feeling of constantly needing to be doing something and am always in a rush for no reason. A few years ago this lead to me always having a full schedule, and always having something to do. 

 

That kind of life was making me STRESSED OUT! It was almost as if I was feeding off the stress and that’s what was driving me. But that is no way to live.

 

It got the point where I was doing more than I could handle and something had to give. A lot of somethings. 

 

I also wanted to write this from a Christain perspective because I feel like simplifying your life and minimalism, while they share a lot of Biblical principles, I think they can lean towards some selfish principles if we aren’t careful. I’ll be sure to touch on this idea later. 

 

I hope the tips I share here today will give you real, practical ways, to declutter your life, be okay with the idea of simple living, and move you to a place of content and peace in your life. 

 

 

Where To Start Decluttering Your Life

 

Your stuff. 

 

Declutter your whole entire house and let go of all the material possessions that you have to take care of. 

 

I don’t mean get rid of everything. I don’t even mean become a minimalist.

 

What I’m saying is, it is easier to take care of a home that has less stuff. Plus, when you declutter you will start to see that our society is a consumer-driven world. We have been tricked into thinking we “need” so many things. 

 

So start by touching every single item in your home and deciding whether or not you really need to keep it or if you can get rid of it. 

 

I have a ton of resources on this blog that will help you. I’ll leave some other things for you to read below or you can get it all done in one shot by getting my ebook – Your Honest Guide To Decluttering. 

 

Helpful posts on decluttering your home:

• How To Declutter Fast
• How To Clean Your Home When The Mess Is Overwhelming
• Decluttering Sentimental Items
• 101 Things To Declutter Right Now

 

Declutter Your Life Books To Read

 

Here is a list of books that will also help you with decluttering and simplifying your life. Please understand that I think all of these books give some great information and will be very helpful to you, but that doesn’t mean I 100% believe everything that is written in them. 

 

Please use your own judgment and discernment when taking advice from others, including from me. Always back up what you read with the Bible and be mindful of those who tell you to put yourself first… that is not Biblical teaching but is often mentioned when simplifying and self-care are talked about together. 

 

Here are some books to help you simplify your life:

• A Simplified Life
• Grace Not Perfection
• Cozy Minimalist
• The More Of Less
• When Less Becomes More

 

You can also check out this list of books to help you simplify your Homemaking

 

Declutter Your Time

 

To me, time is more important than money. What you do with your time while on this earth can have a long-lasting effect on you, the people around you, and family after you for years to come. 

 

I also believe that my time is not my own. It is the Lord’s and I am to do with my time what he sees fit. 

 

Does this mean I am perfect at giving my life to the Lord… no, not even close. I can tend to be selfish with my time. But I think that when we remember to be good stewards of the time the Lord has given us, it is easier to simplify our life. 

 

Assess Your Priorities

 

To start decluttering your time you need to think about what your life goals are. These don’t need to be extremely specific, but it’s important to know what you want from this life so that you can shed the rest. 

 

Here are some examples:

• serve the Lord and follow his will for my life
• serve and love my husband
• train and love my children
• be the keeper of my home
• stay close to my family
• provide a little extra for my family when possible
• love others and show them the love of Jesus

 

Those are some examples of my life priorities. Yours may look very different from mine and that’s okay! We are two different people with two very different lives. 

 

I would like to encourage you, right now, to make a list of your life priorities. This doesn’t have to be the final draft! In fact, I would expect them to change and shift over time. 

 

Having this list is going to play a huge role in helping you declutter your life. 

 

Time To Let Go

 

Now that you have your list you may already have started seeing what you can let go of in your life. 

 

What, or maybe even who is keeping you from obtaining those life goals and keeping those priorities a priority? 

 

For me, it was letting go of my career to be a stay at home mom.  Now I’m not saying you need to be leaving your job. That is not a decision to be taken lightly. But for me, it was clearly getting in the way of me doing what the Lord wanted me to be doing.

 

I wasn’t taking care of my home or my family to the best of my ability. Teaching and coaching were taking up the majority of my time and the most important things to me were not falling first on the list as they should have been. 

 

It was a big change for me. A hard change honestly, but it is what God wanted. And we have been extremely blessed because of it. God has taken care of us every step of the way. 

 

Now that is a really big change and it doesn’t have to be that big for you. I know this is what God was calling me to do and in no way think God is calling every mom to leave their career. 

 

Leaving mine lead me to start this blog and gave me the ability to help my husband build his business. Letting go of what I thought I should be doing, lead me down a path of doing what God was leading us to do and has simplified my life in multiple ways. 

 

Evaluate everything you are spending your time doing and ask yourself if that is helping you reach your goals and the Lord’s goals for your life. 

 

Maybe you are trying to build a business and you are also apart of a number of social events. Are the social events keeping you from spending time on your business, leading you to not reach your business goals?

 

Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe you are working a second job for more money and you are hardly seeing your family. Which one is more important? That is up to you and not for me to decide, but here is something I ask myself to help me decide…

 

Is there a decision I will regret? Is there a chance I will regret not staying home with my kids? Or is there a chance I will regret not having a second income? 

 

I realize it’s not that black and white for some. I’m just trying to give you some examples. 

 

Basically let go and say no to things that are not a priority in your life. 

 

When To Say No

 

I do want to touch on this whole “say no” thing. I see it more and more. “It’s okay to say no.” And it is! That’s basically what I just said in the last 5 paragraphs. 

 

BUT!

 

Don’t forget that loving on other people is important and that it is not always about ourselves. When it comes to loving and serving others, remember our life is about sharing the love of Jesus with others. 

 

So don’t always say no. 

 

I try to think about my family first and what is healthy for them and what they need and want. If I see that my husband is struggling with telling someone no, but that’s what he wants to do, I will say no for him. Or if I think it’s going to complicate any part of my daughter’s life, I say no for her. She is only 3, so she needs me to do that for her. 

 

But if it gives us the opportunity to serve and bless others, I do my best to say yes. If the only reason I want to say no is because it will push me out of my comfort zone, I do my best to say yes. 

 

Ask yourself if it is something you feel like God is wanting you to do. It’s all about what God wants you to do and about your heart… God is the only one who can see your true motives and how your heart is really feeling. 

 

Declutter Access Activities

 

Going back to what I said about saying no for my daughter… I vow right here and now to not let her have too many activities going on in her life. 

 

Activities are good. Activities are fun. But often it can be too much and too stressful for our young kids who just want to be kids. 

 

It’s also good to be home and good to have a slower-paced life. 

 

For me, how can I truly work on my relationships with my family and with the Lord if we are always on the go?! I want my daughter to grow up thinking those things are important and that our life is not valued by being involved in all of the “special” things. 

 

It is okay to say no to the birthday parties, to the extra sports teams, to college credit classes in high school, to cell phones at a young age, to all the social get-togethers, to guests too close to bedtime… it is okay to say no.

 

That is a shortlist of examples, but I hope you see my point. Let your kids be kids. Let them have downtime, time to use their imaginations, time to just hang out with you, time to read a good book, let them have time… and let yourself have that time as well. 

 

Declutter Your Life Quotes

 

Here are a few of my favorite quotes to reference when I’m too rushed, feeling the urge to spontaneously shop, or just need to remember to slow down and relax. I hope they help you as well. 

 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21

 

“Cast your cares upon him for he careth for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

 

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:30

 

“I want days without a schedule to keep. Hours left open for unplanned adventure. Moments of true stillness. I want a life outside of our busy schedule – a life with time to live.” – Brooke Hampton

 

“Just because I like it doesn’t mean I need it.” – Joyce Dipsquale

 

“How can you see all the beauty in your life when you’re busy taking care of all the things you own? I believe clutter is keeping too many of us from living well.” – Erica Layne

 

“Learn to be okay with people not knowing your side of the story. You have nothing to prove to anyone.” – Not sure who said this

 

“True joy isn’t found in having it all together. The good life is rich, slow, real, and flawed.” – Emily Ley

 

“Don’t sacrifice the good to chase the perfect.” – Emily Ley

 

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott

 

Thank You! Need More Support?

 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll stick around and read some more.

 

My main passion is helping women build systems and routines that make homemaking simple. I find this possible through simplifying life, decluttering, and building routines that work for your household.

 

If you love all of that or want to learn more you should jump on my email list. I’ll send you a bunch of info on how I take care of my house, free access to my printables library, and a weekly newsletter with challenges and tips. Hope to see you there. 

 

Either way, thanks again, and come back any time. 🙂