Decluttering Your Life: Making Room for God

Devotional

Day 1: Reclaim the temple: uncluttered worship and devotion

When the decorations come down, the Lord is still here, inviting you to clear the clutter and make room for Him. Like Hezekiah, you can open the doors of your heart, repair what’s broken, and remove what doesn’t belong in God’s house. This is not just tidying up; it is worship—dusting the baseboards of your soul so Jesus sits on the throne again. Some things are good, but the Lord is calling you to what is best. Begin with one honest act of surrender and let it ripple through the rest of your life. Today is a day for rededication. [01:05:25]

2 Chronicles 29:3–5, 15–16
In the very first month of his reign, Hezekiah opened the temple doors and repaired them. He gathered the Levites and told them, “Set yourselves apart for God and clear out what doesn’t belong in His house.” The priests joined together, carried out the uncleanness from the sanctuary, and took the debris away to be discarded outside the city. The temple was cleansed and set apart again for the Lord.

Reflection: What specific “temple clutter” has crept into your routines or affections, and what is one concrete step you will take this week to remove it and make space for worship?

Day 2: From good and better to God’s best

Life fills up quickly—good activities, worthy causes, and full calendars—until there is no place for the Lord to land. The question is not simply what is good, or even better, but what is best for your soul with Jesus at the center. Ask Him to show you where busy has become the barrier to His presence. Then let your schedule reflect your surrender. When you make room for Him, He fills that space with life you cannot manufacture. [01:06:39]

Ephesians 4:17–24
Do not keep living the way people do when their thinking is empty and their hearts are hard toward God. You were taught to leave your old ways behind, to let your inner life be made new, and to put on a new self—one shaped by God’s character, marked by true goodness and holiness found in Jesus.

Reflection: Looking at the next seven days, which single commitment will you graciously release so you can set aside unhurried time with Jesus?

Day 3: Holy habits and firm filters for the soul

Decluttering becomes a way of life through small, steady habits—acting on the mail once, not leaving things in the car, starting with one drawer. Your soul needs habits like that too: practices that filter what enters and what stays. Think of the filter that keeps the system clean from the inside out; put a guard at the door of your heart and say to sin, “You shall not pass.” Build practices of prayer, Scripture, worship, and community that keep the dust from accumulating. Let your habits carry your intentions when your feelings are tired. Choose disciplines that protect the life of God in you. [01:12:38]

Proverbs 4:23–27
Keep careful watch over your inner life, because everything you do flows from there. Turn away from crooked words and deceptive talk. Fix your eyes straight ahead on the path God sets for you. Think through your steps, stay steady, and do not veer to the right or left—keep your feet far from evil.

Reflection: Which single daily habit (prayer at a set time, a short Scripture reading, or a brief examen before bed) will serve as your “filter,” and when exactly will you practice it this week?

Day 4: Let your light shine in everyday service

The best life with God is not only vertical; it is also horizontal—overflowing to neighbors, strangers, and those in need of a simple cup of cool water. As your soul clears, your eyes lift to see who is around you, not just what’s ahead of you. Ordinary acts of kindness become holy when done in Jesus’ name. Let God’s love travel through your hands and feet so others glimpse His heart. Your simplicity can make room for someone else’s healing. [01:25:22]

Matthew 5:16
Let your light be visible in everyday life so people notice the good you do and, seeing it, turn their praise not toward you but toward your Father in heaven.

Reflection: Who near you this week needs a small act of care (a meal, a ride, a listening ear), and what specific day and time will you offer it?

Day 5: Live as God’s sons and daughters—renew your why

Why declutter? Because you belong to God, fully forgiven, deeply loved, and called to give Him your best—not merely what is good or better. Your identity shapes your choices; sons and daughters live differently. Let this new season be marked by practices that match who you are in Christ. Start again today with gratitude, courage, and a simple yes to Him. Give Him your best life, and trust Him with the rest. [01:16:46]

Romans 8:14–17
All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. The Spirit you received does not make you a slave to fear; He brings you into the family and teaches you to cry, “Father.” God’s Spirit assures your spirit that you are His children. And if you are His children, you are also His heirs—sharing in Christ’s life, His sufferings, and His future glory.

Reflection: What daily reminder will you adopt this week to live from your identity (for example, beginning each morning with “Father, I am Yours—lead me”), and how will you keep it in front of you?

Sermon Summary

The Sunday after Christmas offers a deep breath and a sober look at life with God. The decorations come down, but the Lord remains. That contrast sets the frame for an honest call to declutter—first at home and, more importantly, in the heart. Everyday stories of boxes, photos, and overstuffed drawers become mirrors for the soul: it is easy to move clutter out of sight without ever removing it from life. Beneath the humor and the methods, the questions sharpen: What truly brings joy and contentment? Is it lasting or temporary? And when the soul is full of little “specks,” do they form a heavy mass that slows love, prayer, and obedience?

The path forward is not a single event; it is a way of life. Choose a plan, start small, build habits, and guard against the reflex to empty spaces only to fill them again. The grid becomes “good, better, best.” Much in life is good; some is better; but the best is whatever clears space for God’s presence and mission. When the calendar, the closet, and the mind are crowded, there is no room for God to “land.” Decluttering restores capacity for worship, attention, and neighbor-love.

Scripture grounds the call. Hezekiah began his reign by cleansing and rededicating the temple, removing idols and restoring true worship (2 Chronicles 29). That same work belongs in the inner life—clearing whatever is unworthy of Christ and reinstalling him on the throne. Ephesians 4 adds a second step: put off the old self and install a “filter” that keeps impurities from recirculating. Like a well-serviced system with a clean interior, a guarded soul can endure the air of a fallen world without surrendering purity. This is not about settling for “good” resolutions but seeking what is best in the sight of God.

As a new year approaches, three questions lead the way: What needs to be removed? How will new disciplines and habits be formed? Why pursue this work at all? Because those in Christ are sons and daughters of God, called to give him their best—vertically in worship and horizontally in practical care for neighbors. Decluttering is not merely tidying; it is making room for holiness, love, and obedience.

Key Takeaways

1. Decluttering creates capacity for God. Busyness and accumulation limit spiritual availability. When life is crowded, attention fragments and prayer thins; even good things can become barriers to the best. Clearing space is not cosmetic—it opens a landing zone for God’s presence and guidance. Choose margins over hurry so grace can take root. [56:20]
2. Begin by reclaiming the temple. Hezekiah started renewal by cleansing and rededicating the temple, removing what did not belong to God. Spiritual decluttering begins the same way: identify what hinders worship and confess it, then set Christ back on the throne. Holiness grows where idols are named and dismantled. [65:25]
3. Install strong filters for holiness. Cleansing is not enough; protection matters. Like an HVAC system that stays clean from the inside, practiced disciplines and wise boundaries stop impurities from gaining a foothold. Scripture, prayer, community, and repentance work together as a living filter that keeps the heart clear. [73:55]
4. Choose best over good and better. Life offers many good options, but spiritual maturity learns to refuse “good” when it blocks what is best. Best is whatever most honors Christ and serves neighbor in love. Let the pursuit of the best adjust your calendar, spending, and commitments. [74:20]
5. Ask what, how, and why. Inventory the clutter, plan small sustainable habits, and anchor motives in identity as God’s children. Without a clear “why,” empty spaces will refill with noise. Let belonging to Christ be the reason that reshapes choices and sustains change. [75:21]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[43:25] - Learning about clutter
[48:05] - Searching decluttering methods
[51:19] - Pragmatic tests for clutter
[52:49] - Sentiment and hard decisions
[54:08] - Good, better, best choices
[56:20] - Making room for God
[59:43] - Plan, habits, small wins
[63:38] - Hezekiah reclaims the temple
[70:03] - Put off the old self
[71:13] - Install spiritual filters
[74:58] - What, how, and why
[79:36] - Invitation and new beginnings
[85:11] - Blessing and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

- 2 Chronicles 29

- Ephesians 4:17-24

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

- Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Observation questions

In 2 Chronicles 29, what were the first concrete steps Hezekiah took to cleanse and rededicate the temple? What got removed, and what got restored?
In Ephesians 4:17-24, what contrasts do you see between the “old self” and the “new self”? List the marks of each.
What everyday picture is being painted by the phrase “no room for God to ‘land’,” and what signs tell someone that their life has run out of spiritual margin? “no room for God… to allow him to land” [56:20]
What simple image was used to describe holiness protection, and what was the reported result? “not a speck of dust on the inside of that machine” [01:12:38]

Interpretation questions

If Hezekiah began renewal by cleansing the temple (2 Chronicles 29), what does that suggest about where spiritual change begins and why worship comes first?
Paul says “put off your old self… be renewed… put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:22-24). What might that “put off/put on” rhythm look like in daily habits and choices?
How does the grid of “good, better, best” help a believer discern between many good options and the one that most honors Christ? “good, better, best” [54:08]
What does it mean to “put a filter on the door” of the soul so that sin “shall not pass”? How do practices like Scripture, prayer, community, and repentance function as that filter? “put a filter on the door… You… to sin… shall not pass” [01:13:55]

Application questions

Start small, build a habit. What is one small area you will declutter this week (a folder on your laptop, a drawer, a stairwell space), and what’s your simple plan and time slot to do it? “make a plan… start at something small… create a habit” [59:43]
Identify one “speck” that is becoming a “blob” in your soul (a small compromise, a recurring distraction, an overcommitment). What boundary or replacement habit will you put in place this week? “a whole lot of little specks become a big blob” [01:02:09]
Trade good for best. Name one good activity or purchase you will release to make room for what is best with God and neighbor. How will this change free space on your calendar or budget as a “landing zone” for God? “good, better, best” [54:08] and “allow him to land” [56:20]
Reclaim the temple. What is one idol or barrier to worship you need to remove and confess right now, and what will rededication look like this week (specific time in the Word, gathered worship, fasting, giving)? “rededicate it to the Lord God Almighty” [01:05:25]
Install a filter. Which two practices will be your filter in the new year—daily Scripture, set prayer times, Christian community, quick repentance? When will you practice them, and who will help you keep them? “put a filter on the door” [01:13:55]
Live from identity. Because you are a son or daughter of God, what is one concrete change you will make before the new year begins (a confession you need to make, a subscription to cancel, a margin block to add)? “we are the sons and daughters of God” [01:16:22]
Horizontal love. Who near you needs a “cup of cool water” this week, and what simple act will you take—call, meal, ride, bill help, prayer visit? “a cup of cool water” [01:08:51]

Sermon Clips

We know that in our busyness of our life, in the busy things that we do, life gets full, life gets complicated. And when it does, our capacity becomes limited and there are things we cannot do. And one of those things we do is we put God to the side because our life has no capacity because of the stuff we have in it to allow him to land and to be real to us. [00:56:10] (41 seconds) #MakeSpaceForGod

``We are going to get rid of the stuff that is in the temple that doesn't belong to God. We are going to get into the temple and we are going to clean it out. We are going to get out on our hands and knees and we are going to dust the baseboards. We are going to wipe away the things that represented those idols. And we are going to rededicate it to the Lord God Almighty. [01:04:54] (42 seconds) #TempleCleanup

For those of us in the church, when we are looking for good, better, and what is best for us. It begins with cleaning out the cobwebs. For all of us. It begins with an evaluation of what I need to declutter in my life. And how I am going to put some new discipline into my life. New habit into my life. So that I can live the best version I can for Jesus Christ. [01:07:16] (46 seconds) #LiveBestForJesus

I choose to live for Him. And ask the whys. And in those asking those why questions, let that determine what I put in my life. Who I put in my life. Where I go in my life. And what my schedule looks like. Because the good, better, best. The best is about my relationship with Jesus Christ. [01:08:07] (34 seconds) #ChooseJesusFirst

My best is not only a looking up relationship. An up and down relationship to God. But it is also the horizontal plane. When God through me is taking care of my neighbors. And looking after the people I care about. And checking on the people who don't know me from Adam. But need a cup of cool water. [01:08:41] (35 seconds) #ServeYourNeighbor

How we need those filters in our life. They're going to stand strong. Stand before us. To keep those impurities away from us. That we have been taught since we were a child. So that our souls would not crumble. In who we are. The clutter that builds up in our souls. The dust that builds up. We lose our sense of direction. We lose our compass. [01:12:56] (43 seconds) #ProtectYourSoul

The decluttering of our life is not about a past event. And what are we going to do about the things in the past. For after we have a come to Jesus meeting. And like Hezekiah. We clean out. Our temple. For God. We put a filter on the door. That stands strong. And says. You. To sin. Shall not pass. [01:13:42] (30 seconds) #GuardTheTemple

Second question is how are you going to go about doing it? How are you going to go about doing it? It begins with a moment. But it continues through the discipline of our faith. Of building habits. Of stepping beyond our comfort zone. Of worshipping our God. Corporately. Living in community with the people of God. And sharing the love of God. With those who are around us. [01:15:13] (44 seconds) #DisciplinedFaith

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What does reclaiming the temple mean today?

Which spiritual filters protect us from impurity?

How should Christians choose good, better, best?