Sunday, September 30, 2007

Stuff

Dear Sister

I am a mix of contradictions. I'm a hoarder but I hate having stuff around. I like collecting things, but I also feel a great sense of achievement when I throw out/give away a whole lot of junk that I don't need.
A while ago a friend of mine wrote about simplifying her family's unit. Paul reminds us "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:6-9)

In our western culture it's so easy to get caught up in needing stuff. Life is about relationships, not accumulating things. The amount of time I have spent using my stuff when I could have been building godly relationships with people makes me cringe. How I long to have 'food and clothing' and be content. Of course having possessions in itself isn't wrong, it's the importance we put on it. Today I spent a few hours getting rid of things I don't need, I still have a awful amount of things in my room but it felt good anyway.

I'll keep working on it, and hopefully be more cautious when I'm about to bring my stuff into my room, deciding if I'd be better off without it.

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