Saturday, June 9, 2012

The sacrifice of Christ and de-cluttering


And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal. (Alma 34:14)

We are familiar with how the principle of animal sacrifice in the Old Testament was to point Israel to the sacrifice to the sacrifice of Christ.  We also should be fairly familiar with how the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit can point us to Christ.  But what if we also apply the principle of sacrifice to our efforts to de-clutter?  Everything we give away and let go of can remind us of what Christ sacrificed for us.  The better we get at letting go, the easier it becomes, but there may still be some things that will be very hard to let go of, even though we know we should.  At these times, letting go may seem like inexorable deprivation.  This is when remembering Christ’s sacrifice can be most instructive and comforting.  And can’t we ask the Lord to sanctify us and refine us by our efforts to let go?  

Let me give an example of something I felt was a sacrifice to de-clutter.  I’ve only made one quilt for myself in my life, and I gave it away before I ever used it.  I designed it myself, and I chose the material for it specifically so that it would be as colorful and cheerful as possible.   I meant it to be as large as possible for my twin bed (I was single at the time), and I gave it a fleece backing and the thickest batting I could find so that it would be as warm as possible.  It took a long time to make, and by the time I finished it, things had changed—I was married and slept on a king-sized bed with my husband, and although the quilt would have been huge on a twin-sized bed, the quilt wasn’t big enough for a king.  We also had moved to Arizona, and the quilt designed for northern chilly nights was too hot.   The day I finished it was the day I knew I had to give it away.  I took it to a ward swap meet and the bishop’s daughter pounced on it.  I was pleased that someone else was going to appreciate it.

That was kind of a hard decision to make, but it made it easier for me to de-clutter.  After all, if you’ve let go of something big, then letting go of littler things is a cinch.

When have you let go of something and felt like it was a sacrifice?  Tell me about it?

4 comments:

Rozy Lass said...

When we were moving to Iowa we could not take my beloved baby grand piano which I had worked and scrimped for four years to purchase. We couldn't afford to have it moved professionally and we didn't have space to move it ourselves. I prayed that it would be purchased by someone who would love it. At the same time someone was praying to find a beautiful piano for a specific amount of money. She called to see the piano, and I could tell she fell in love with it just like I did. She was a professional pianist and was remodeling her living room and wanted a gorgeous piece of furniture to put in it. We agreed on the price, less than I had asked for but exactly what she had and she made arrangements to have it moved to her home. I cried and cried over my loss, but was comforted by how thankful she was to find it in answer to her prayer. It made my sacrifice worthwhile. There are day when I still miss that lovely piano.

Michaela Stephens said...

Wow. As a pianist, I honor your sacrifice.

Stephen said...

I remember giving our swing set/fort to a family. Our daughter had outgrown it, kind of, and they really needed it.

Was sad to see it go, but it did the other family good and they could not afford to pay for it.

Michaela Stephens said...

Wow. A swingset is a big thing! That's amazing!