Decluttering the Christian Life

I recently cleaned a lot of junk out of my desk.

I discovered many things that should have been cleaned up long ago, like Civics and Spanish notes from last year, a full-length practice SAT I’d already taken, and many to-do lists from a year ago.

I also found papers I wanted to keep that encouraged me, like prayers, songs, and article outlines I had written.

But, as I was cleaning out my drawer and seeing the many papers that should have been cleaned out long ago, I realized that the state I keep my desk in is not the best. More than that, I realized the state I keep my desk in is similar to the state that I sometimes keep my life in.

What I mean is this: that old junk from before I was a Christian? The scrolling through social media, comparing myself to others, and focusing on myself too much? I decided that it can hang out for a while, even though I had been set free from my old sin.

Something I used to (and still do) struggle with is wasting time on Instagram and YouTube. I don’t struggle with overuse of technology as much as I used to, but I still have Instagram on my phone, and sometimes I waste a lot of time on it.

I have not been a good steward of my time on Instagram--and I know it’s very unlikely I will be without restrictions. Yet I keep Instagram on my phone anyway and give the devil a foothold.

I used to watch random entertaining videos on YouTube--which isn’t necessarily a bad thing--but the videos took the place of spending time with family, getting writing done, and doing homework.

I had fallen into this trap in the past, yet I kept YouTube on my phone and have recently found myself sinning in the same way I used to.

I have kept the old, unneeded junk and temptations--the old Spanish papers, Civics homework, and practice tests--in my desk drawer even though I know the time came long ago for them to be cleaned out.

Keeping the old papers may not seem so bad at first, but they will build up. Keeping some of our old ways may satisfy us in the short term, but it makes us feel a lot less satisfied and a lot more lonely long term. Instagram reels give me a burst of serotonin but leave me feeling guilty for watching so much afterwards. If the junk makes us feel like this, why do we keep it?

I can think of two reasons: we go back to our old temptations out of habit and because we think we can handle them.

Many times when I’ve gone onto YouTube, I’ve thought, “I’m not going to watch multiple videos today. I’m just going on YouTube to watch this one video that I’m curious about.”

And that usually works when I’m on my computer, but not so much on my phone. It's a habit to click on random videos and think, “I’m going to watch them for a short break from my work.” But there are many better ways to spend my time resting from work.

When I go on YouTube on my phone, I almost always end up watching videos for about 20 minutes, and then I realize what I’m supposed to be doing.

I could outline a new article and begin drafting it in 20 minutes. I could finish editing an old article in 20 minutes. I could write a new song, practice 5 songs on the piano, or have a quick basketball game with my brother in 20 minutes. It only took me 24 minutes to draft this article.

What could you do in 20 minutes?

Yesterday, when I cleaned out my desk drawer, I decided to clean out some other things, too.

I’m going to ask my dad to block YouTube on my phone. I can get to YouTube on the computer if I need to.

I deleted Instagram on my phone, too. I can still post the Inhuman Passion articles through my computer.

I might re-download Instagram and set a stricter time limit on it, because it’s more necessary than YouTube (I need it to stay updated about school clubs, figure an interview date out with a certain author, and for some reason I can’t access my personal account on the computer). However, I will do things to make sure I’m not falling into the same temptations. I want to have screen-free Sundays, too.

What’s the junk in your life that needs to be cleaned out? Are there any old things that should have been cleaned out long ago, but you’re keeping?

Don’t even give the devil a foothold--remove the things that usually tempt you from your life, if possible. And once you remove them, don’t let other things pile up again. Keep the songs, article outlines, and prayers… but remove the old civics and spanish notes.

(Note: this article was written a month ago and I re-downloaded Instagram because I need it for school-related things. I’m still working on everything I talk about in this post!)