Christian Minimalism: Simple Steps for Abundant LivingSample

Day 5 - Spiritual Growth

Being a Jesus follower means cultivating our relationship with God. It’s a natural part of who we are. Jesus himself took time to pray, even when he was busy traveling and teaching and doing ministry. Because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we are able to listen to the Spirit’s leading and inspiration even as we go about our everyday lives (1 Corinthians 3:16).

We know that growing in our relationship with God is one of the most important parts of being a Christian, but too often other things end up getting in the way. Christian minimalists aim to make spiritual growth a priority and remove those things.

A big part of our consumer society is accumulating stuff. The stuff we accumulate is actually garbage; we are surrounded by our waste: the waste of our God-given time, money, and resources. And this waste quickly starts to build up and stink up the rest of our lives. It can even keep us from a full relationship with Jesus.

As we read in Philippians 3:7-8, Paul discarded the garbage in his life so that he could have a fully realized relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul is a Christian minimalist. Having recognized that a relationship with Jesus was most important, he got rid of all the worthless garbage that kept him from God. He prioritized Jesus above everything else—even above what society expected of him.

How is the Holy Spirit inspiring you to “take out the garbage” in your life to truly focus on God and your spiritual growth?