127 Yard Sale. Enough said. End of story. I could stop right there but, what kind of blog would that be? I decided to join in the fun this year. I thought, surely I have enough stuff to at least share a spot with a friend. Then I started going through my stuff. Oh my goodness. I have a lot of stuff that I don’t use. Stuff that I haven’t used in a long time. I had to rent my own spot. I haven’t even gone through my kitchen yet. I have so many items in my kitchen that I don’t use. Multiples of dishware that take up space.
Part of me is excited to maybe get rid of this stuff. The other part of me still wonders if I should keep it. Like you never know, maybe I’ll need it later. Let me tell you, I’m not going to need it later, but that is how my brain works. Are any of you like that? You know you don’t need it. You get aggravated when you go to get something you do need and you can’t get to it because of all the stuff? When you go to get rid of it, you end up keeping it because, who knows? Lord help me.
We as humans do this thing. We hold onto stuff that does us no good. Maybe it does no harm, but it certainly does no good. Let’s be honest, most of the time, keeping it does harm. If you haven’t figured it out, I’m talking about grudges and unforgiveness.
We hold onto past hurts like our lives depend on it. What it ends up doing is killing us. Don’t get me wrong, forgiveness doesn’t always mean reconciliation. You don’t have to go and seek a relationship with people that have hurt you. A lot of the time, if you do that, you will get hurt again. No, I’m talking about what Jesus said. I was reminded this morning that He showed me so much grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Who am I to withhold those things from someone else.
Jesus did not condemn. Romans 8: 35,37-39. Nothing shall separate us from the love of Jesus. If we truly repent and turn to Jesus, He lifts us up. I know this isn’t easy. I have a friend that is neck deep in a situation that makes me want to condemn. However, if things change and go in the right direction, I will have to give grace. You know why, because Jesus gave it to me.
If we are going to reach people for the kingdom, it needs to be a kingdom they want to enter. If it looks like the one they are already living in, why would they want to come with us? I am preaching to myself right now. But I feel I’m not the only one that needs to hear it.
There are people that have hurt us. There are people that have hurt our children. There are people that simply don’t agree with us. Let me tell you, forgiveness from you/me isn’t really even for them. Sometimes they don’t even know that they have hurt you. Sometimes they don’t care. Forgiveness is necessary so that we have room in our hearts for what God wants to do. If we take up all the space with our own stuff, God can’t fill us to overflowing so we can reach others for Him.
It is time to clean out our houses. It is time to clean out our hearts. It is time to show people what the love of Jesus looks like.
Get ready for the sale.
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