What Is Minimalism?
When you hear the word minimalism, you may think “extreme scarcity”. You might picture someone living a sterile, restrictive and boring lifestyle where you live with blank walls, own enough things to fit into a single backpack or live in a tiny house. Modern-day minimalism is about intentionally living with less so that you can focus on what matters most. It’s a lifestyle and mindset that empowers you to simplify your life down to the essentials and purposefully eliminate everything else.
Usually, that change includes some kind of decluttering and downsizing process to simplify your living space, reevaluating what’s important to you and then restructuring your consumption habits so that your time, energy and resources are spent on the things you value most.
Realizing The Lie
Though you won’t find the term minimalism in scripture or a specific commandment to become a minimalist as a follower of Jesus, the Bible has a lot to say about how we should relate to our possessions.
What The Bible Says About Minimalism
John’s essentially saying step #1 to repentance is to deal with your excess and donate your duplicates to the people in need. This was radical! And this was the first time the gospels addressed our tendency to overconsume and accumulate more than we need and it won’t be the last.
John The Baptist Prepares The Way
This parable is actually saying that God has made all things ready for us to receive Him through his son Jesus and the parable warns us not to become so engrossed with our possessions that we excuse ourselves from an eternity with Christ.
The Parable of The Great Banquet
Ultimately the rich young ruler’s love for his wealth was greater than his love for Jesus, so the wealth became his master.
The Parable Of The Rich Young Ruler
Jesus knows that amassing more and more stuff won’t lead to a life of freedom. In fact, in Luke 12:15 Jesus said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
The Path To An Abundant Life
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