Glorifying Jesus in our Homes by Nikki Evanson
Handwritten greeting cards have always been so significant and meaningful to me, ever since I was a young girl. They always made me feel so loved, seen, and special on my birthday.
I love looking closely at the details in the images and reading the sentiment of the words. I knew that someone had taken time out of their busy schedules to look for a suitable card, and thought of me.
Therefore, it had become an easy keepsake that I could save to relive the love and beauty from my birthdays growing up. It allowed me to look back and recall those joyful moments and the ones who loved me. It was always nice to know that I had a bin of them tucked away in my closet.
One afternoon, as I was preparing for my first big move across the country as a young married woman, I was sifting through the small closet in our apartment and came across the keepsake bin.
I immediately—with great delight—opened it up, knowing what was in it.
A big grin came upon my face as I started reading the sentiments.
I could remember the people I lost—like my grandma, and her love.
Drawings from my siblings brought back the family parties we had.
My heart swelled up with joy from all the memories that the box brought up.
Although I was enthralled, my husband and I had decided that we needed to significantly pare down what we could bring with us.
I knew we couldn’t bring everything, and that I needed to only bring the most important things, but it felt so hard. I didn’t know where to start.
It was in my desire to obey God that I learned the value of “less is more.” Whether we are moving or just looking to declutter, it’s so important that we are intentional about what we keep in our homes.
Our home can be a place of peace and refuge for others. A safe haven, where someone can experience the love of Jesus through the things it holds.
Therefore, we want to be forthright in choosing wisely what we bring into it. And likewise, we want to generously part ways with things that can bless others, or are just not life-giving to us. All of this helps shape the experience others receive when spending time in our homes.
HONORING JESUS
As followers of Christ, we should aim to honor Jesus in every way possible. We read this command in 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV): “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Honoring him in our homes is no exception, then. We want our homes to be places where someone might experience and see Christ for the first time; we want others to see his glory and goodness.
Therefore, right away we want others to encounter his love; for them to feel a sense of peace and tranquility.
“Less” can convey this. Having so many items can make our homes feel chaotic and not allow people to focus on the message you want your home to carry.
Being mindful and having a cohesive theme in your home can help. My husband and I chose to have a nature theme in our home. We both love nature, and being out in nature together bonded us closer together and to God.
Anything that we had previously that didn’t go with that theme, we decided to part with. When we decided that we wanted our home to show his love to others, it was easy to part ways with things.
Changing our perspective to know that our homes are a ministry to honor God and represent him well to others can easily allow us to give things away and keep what is most important to convey this message to others.
It helped us to pare down significantly when we decided that we wanted to honor Jesus in anything that we brought in our home.
THINGS ARE TEMPORARY
Our homes, and everything in them on this earth, are temporary.
When we come to this realization and remember that we are just visitors on this earth, we can learn that acquiring material possessions is not of great value.
We can learn that the treasures and things that we must store up are not material things. These things waste away, as Matthew 6:19-20 (ESV) reminds us: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
We must therefore not focus on things from this earth. Knowing that material possessions are temporary and not of great value to the kingdom can help us to part ways with items and bless others with them.
I try to ask myself, “do I really need this item? Is it going to bless my family or others who visit my home?”
Viewing items like this can change our viewpoint and allow us to minimize what we have in our homes.
THE GIFT OF GIVING
Sometimes we can buy and keep belongings in an attempt to impress others or try to keep up with them.
Our homes can feel like a burden—or we can feel no peace in them—when in fact our homes are a gift from the Lord.
In keeping our homes, we must remember that they are his, and from him. Therefore, we must aim to please him in them.
When we reflect on what we are keeping in it, are we doing it to look good to others? What are our motives for the things we are holding on to?
We need to ask ourselves if we are following Hebrews 13:16 (ESV): “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Jesus is not calling us to hoard items in order to please others and to look a certain way to them. We must aim to glorify him by holding on to things that please him, not frivolous items.
Giving these unnecessary items away to those in need pleases him and models his love.
Our homes are a ministry and a gift from the Lord. We must fill them with things of value and not make them feel chaotic with so much clutter.
Having less shows that we are intentional in making our homes a place where God’s values are present.
Nikki Evanson is a wife, mother, and—first and foremost—a grateful believer in Jesus Christ. She is the author of the blog Heart Wounds Healed (nikkievanson.com), which she created with the intention to help and minister to women who follow Jesus; to help them deal with the hurts in their hearts so that they can grow closer and deeper in their relationships with Jesus. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.