We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing~ Billy Graham
I heard a good friend recently suggest to a group of church leaders that if we’re not careful to be stay outwardly focused, the church could be guilty of hoarding. That word stopped me in my tracks. Hoarding? Not me.
The dictionary defines hoarding as “an obsessive need to acquire (and failure to use or discard) a significant amount of possessions, even if the items are worthless.”
Just as we keep things for too long in our house, if you’re anything like me, you probably keep things too long in your heart as well. And cluttered excess that stockpiles in our hearts could easily be a type of “spiritual hoarding.” Our “stuff” can be narrowed down to 2 categories. Stuff we need to give away and stuff we need to throw away. Key word…away. Do you have people in your past who’ve hurt you, and even though it doesn’t feel good, you hold onto that unforgiveness? What about negative emotions you harbor? Anger, resentment, or bitterness? Things didn’t go in life as you had expected them to. A friend has betrayed your trust. A loved one has hurt you. Your spouse said some very hurtful things, and you’re still holding on to those. Got a mental picture of this clutter around your heart? This is all stuff to throw away. It piles up until you’re unable to move around freely without tripping over some of it. Throw stuff away! Daily! Let it go!!!
Now. The stuff to give away. You and I have more than we think. You receive teaching through Bible studies, and messages, week after week. You hear songs about God’s love, His mercy, and His forgiveness. You’ve read books on faith, and you’ve weathered storms that taught you to trust. You have alot of knowledge, financial and physical blessing “cluttering up your heart” but it’s rarely translated into helping a single mom, a struggling family, a lost neighbor, or a hurting world. Perhaps all those things came your way so you could in turn give them away. The Bible says of Jesus, “He emptied Himself…to the point of death on a cross.” He had it all…but He knew the blessing was to give it all away. We, however, sing, “I give myself away” and yet the church can’t find volunteers for ushers and greeters, and people to lead small groups. Someone’s hoarding things that were meant to be given away freely.
So, I ask you what I ask myself. Am I throwing away the junk that’s piled up from my past, and am I giving away the blessings God pours into my life? If not, start today. After all, “What you gonna do with all that junk…inside your trunk?”