Heart to Heart (September 2010) ~ Spiritual Appraisal – Part 1

SPIRITUAL APPRAISAL – Part 1

We recently had an addition added on to our house and have been moving things from the old section into the new section.  This caused us to go through boxes and other items that have been packed away in corners and closets.  Now I am not a full-fledged pack rat, but I must admit I have had tendencies toward it. I have come across things that I just can’t remember why I felt I needed to keep in the first place.  There is a word for these items … clutter – also known as junk.  I’m convinced that an attic can just become a place where we can throw away our junk … and still keep it.  We can accumulate, amass and hoard so many things we become overwhelmed by it all.  We feel crowded out of our own living space.  It’s difficult to feel buried by stuff in our house, but far worse to feel buried by stuff in our own mind and emotions – a cluttered soul.  Just why do we keep all this stuff? …

First, we must realize that in spirit we have been made clean and whole if we are in Christ.  Through the work of the cross Jesus has cleaned out the nature of sin that we had in Adam, we now have Christ’s life.  We are a three part being – spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  It is not in our spirit that we get cluttered, it is in our soul – our mind, will and emotions.  The question again arises, why do we keep and hold all this mental and emotional baggage that clutters our life?

The things we take ownership of we keep and the things we value we guard.  So our perception of ownership and value determine what we keep and guard.  What we fill our thoughts with and give our desires to.  We have been ministering a series in our local fellowship entitled “Spiritual Appraisal” from 1 Corinthians 2:14:

“the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  (NASB)

To appraise something is to determine its value, worth and importance.  Apart from the Holy Spirit we can’t assess the true value of anything.  There is a reason that armed guards were placed at Fort Knox (it’s full of gold, or at least used to be) and not at the city trash dump – we simply protect what we deem valuable.  Paul said to the Corinthians he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).  Only in light of Jesus and the cross do all things find their true value.  Paul also said that whatever things were gain to him, he counted (appraised) as loss for the sake of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:4-8).  It is only in view of Jesus that we can hold to what has value and allow the Spirit to displace the clutter of our soul. 

We will continue this thought in next month’s Heart to Heart …

Love in Christ,

Pastor David Hughes