When you go on vacation, do you make sure your house is clean first?
Walking through the front door into your home sparkling clean with everything put away is one of the best feelings, isn't it?
On the other hand, when you enter a room and there is stuff everywhere, anxiety can creep in and send your thoughts racing towards everything you have to get done.
Keeping your home free of clutter can free up so much more than just space in your house. It frees up space in your mind and your schedule, too! There's less to worry about, less to clean, less to find a home for, less to put away when guests come over.
If you're not familiar with FlyLady, I would encourage you to check her out. She's been around a LONG time, so she has plenty of experience in helping people declutter their homes - efficiently, simply, and without overwhelm.
If your husband is the one who prefers to keep a lot of "stuff", consider having a conversation about keeping his things contained to one part of the house so it doesn't take over.
Similar to house clutter, mind clutter can wreak havoc on your emotions.
- When you constantly mull over a conversation and what you *should* have said...
- When you script out potential responses for what you just know will be an argument...
- When you think about how your husband didn't do this, or should have done that, or hasn't taken care of this...
- When you recall something that hurt you and remember the bitterness you feel towards that person...
- When you worry about whether something will turn out the way you think it should...
Those are all thoughts we can choose to entertain, or choose to reject and replace.
Removing the mind clutter, the negative thoughts and the anxious concerns, will free up space to fill instead with what Philippians 4:8 tells us: "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Scripture commands us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. EVERY thought. That means we have the power over what to think, and what to reject.
You can CHOOSE not to ponder your husband's faults, but instead to ponder his admirable qualities and the things he does to help you and provide for you.
You can CHOOSE not to replay hurtful conversations, but instead recall accolades and kind things people have done for you - or kind things you can do for someone else!
You can CHOOSE not to believe negative lies about yourself, and instead memorize God's attributes and focus on everything wonderful about Him.
You can CHOOSE to believe what God says about you, what He asks you to do for Him in how you treat your husband and family, and meditate and replay scripture in your mind.
Keeping your home, and your soul, free of clutter will go a long way towards the peace and freedom God offers you to more fully embrace your role of a godly wife.
I'd love to hear - what is one thing you'd like to get rid of in your home to remove clutter, and what is one new, Christ-like thought you're going to embrace in order to reject clutter thoughts?
This is the last post in our series on the Daily Habits of a Godly Wife! It has been such a joy to walk through each of these with you over the past few months. If you missed any posts, be sure to go back to check them all out!
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