Minimalism: Why We Choose to Live a Simpler Life
Minimalism = cutting out the white noise.
At least, that’s what it means for us. While my husband and I have always loved clean lines & modern design, we've come to realize that minimalism doesn't just apply to a visual style, but to all parts of our life.
Living minimally means cutting out anything in our life that would distract us from focusing on our priorities and purpose: Loving God & Loving People.
Three years ago we started to declutter our home, and we were in shock as to how much we owned and the time we spent maintaining it all. Most of us don't know this, but we are the richest people in the world. If you make more than an annual income of $40,000, that places you in the richest 2.0% of the world's population. An income of $25,000/year puts you in the top 3%. Knowing this, I think of the story in the Bible where a rich man asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life. Jesus says:
“...“There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Jesus tells the rich man; get rid of your stuff and follow me. And the man can’t. When Jesus asked him to sell his possessions, I believe He was checking the focus of the man’s heart. He knows human nature. This man’s physical belongings and routine were a distraction from fully following Christ. If we really are the richest people in the world, I think we tend to be like the rich man: focused on our earthly treasure.
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
Joshua and I want our hearts to be heaven focused. To be people focused. We don't want to waste our time on earthly belongings, or constantly complaining about our "busy" schedules. We want every day of our lives to be spent with eternity on our minds.
So we decided to cut away at all our personal possessions and simplify our life routines. The online shopping, the huge closets of clothes, the excessive home knick-knacks, extra kitchen tools, time spent on social media, hours wasted on Netflix. Everything was simplified so we could spent more time with the Lord and on what really mattered.
Through that process we realized that the calling on our lives is far too great to be distracted by treasure here on earth - minimalism became a tool to draw closer to Christ and more focused on our purpose.
We not perfect. But we are slowly gaining a clearer picture of where our treasure lies, and that white noise has become significantly quieter.