As 2013 comes to a close, and we prepare for 2014, I realize that I have been holding onto some clutter. Some of this clutter is in physical form, old papers, old clothes that just don’t get used anymore, and a couple boxes that actually relate to a good chunk of my emotional and spiritual clutter. In fact, as I moved from one home to another this past March I had to pull out and move those two boxes of papers that I had previously hidden away. These boxes actually represent some mental and spiritual clutter that I thought I had gotten rid of. So, as I clean out the physical clutter from this year, I must also clear out the emotional and the spiritual clutter, lest they kill my spirit and render me useless to God.

Getting rid of physical clutter is often as easy as throwing it into the trash. Or, if it is something that someone else can use, then it may be donated. But how can I get rid of the spiritual and the emotional clutter? For me the first thing is to forgive those who have sinned against me. Maybe it was lies and gossip that have been told about me, or about my family. Or maybe it was unloving, and unkind attitudes from those who should know better. Whatever it was, it doesn’t matter. I have decided to forgive, and release those individuals and their offenses to God. Why? Well, first of all, because we are commanded to. Think for just a moment about one phase in the Lord’s prayer: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” I see two ways of looking at this phrase. First, I am asking God to forgive me according to how I forgive others. Second, as I am asking God to forgive me, I am also asking Him to help me forgive others. Either way, we are expected to forgive others as He has forgiven us. I do not want to be like the wicked servant who, after being forgiven a great debt, refused to forgive a fellow servant of a much smaller debt. Another reason to forgive is to allow myself to have peace. God knows the truth, and He is the only one I am responsible to answer to. So whether or not any person who has offended me acknowledges his or her guilt before me or before God, I choose to forgive. I release them, and the debt to God.

The harder person to forgive is myself. But if I do not, then I will continue to drag the clutter with me. So I choose to forgive myself. God has forgiven me. My sins and failures are covered by the Blood. If God has forgiven them , then I must accept by faith that they are no more. Either God has forgiven me, or He hasn’t. But His Word tells me that if I have confessed my sin, then He is faithful and just, and forgives that sin. And I have. So, now I choose to forgive myself.

Finally, I ask forgiveness from those whom I have offended.

So I am ending 2013 on a note of forgiveness. And when the devil tries to remind me of old sins, whether committed by me or against me, I can remind him that I cleaned out the clutter, and they are covered by the blood of the Lamb. And 2014 begins uncluttered, and with a clean slate.