When you
intentionally reduce the excess in your lifestyle, you create space for God’s
kingdom to break through. Then you can see life more from God’s
perspective and join Him more in His work. Here’s how you can
take seven months to decrease excess in seven key areas of your life, and
increase your participation in God’s kingdom work as a result:
Reduce your food
consumption. For month one,
choose just seven different types of food to eat, rather than consuming an
endless variety of foods. Some healthy foods that can meet your nutritional
needs for the month are: chicken, eggs, 100% whole-wheat bread, sweet potatoes,
spinach, avocados, and apples. Limit your drinks to water to make this month’s
meals and snacks even simpler. If you’re medically able to do so, fast from all
food for a short while, skipping some meals to train yourself to focus on
something greater than your physical desires. Ask God to help you
redirect your physical hunger to an appetite for what will satisfy you
spiritually. Turn to God alone for true fulfillment.
Reduce your clothes
consumption. For month two,
choose only seven different types of clothing to wear (not including underwear,
and a pair of shoes counts as one item) night and day for the whole month. Go
through your closets and identify all the excess clothes that you don’t really
need or have outgrown. Then donate as many as possible to organizations that
help people in need. At the end of the month when you can wear
more clothes and find yourself wanting some in a different style, consider
swapping clothes with your friends instead of buying new ones at stores.
Consider how much you’ve learned about humility and giving God
glory during this time that you’ve been free from trying to clothe yourself for
attention from others. Recognize that it doesn’t matter very much how you look to people on the outside; what’s in your soul is far more important. Remember that Jesus Himself had a very simple appearance (the Bible says in Isaiah 53:2 that Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”) but was magnificently handsome on the inside. Decide to value substance and integrity more than charisma and style.
Reduce your
possessions. For month three,
choose seven different things you own to give away – every single day (so in a
month with 30 days, you’d give 210 items away). Ask God to direct you to
specific people in need who could use the items you’re giving away, such as a
single mother’s family that’s moving into a new apartment and needs furniture
or household items, or refugees who had to leave most of their belongings
behind when leaving their countries. Notice how giving away your excess
possessions to help others who need them helps you let go of certain qualities
(selfishness, greed, power, accumulation, prestige, and self-preservation) and
embrace better qualities (community, generosity, compassion, mercy, brotherhood,
kindness, and love). Follow Jesus’ advice to store up your
treasures in heaven rather than on Earth by focusing on what has eternal
value.
Reduce your media
consumption. For month four,
choose seven different types of media to abstain from, such as TV, video games,
social media such as Facebook and Twitter, iPhone apps, radio, texting, and
movies or some level of Internet usage. Then use the time that you
would normally spend on those media activities for prayer.
As you
invest the extra time into communicating with God, notice how much more you
become aware of His constant presence with you, and how powerfully His love
flows into your life. When you resume using the seven kinds of
media you’d given up during this month, use them more wisely, keeping them in
proper perspective so they don’t turn into idols.
Reduce your
waste. For month five,
choose seven different habits you can begin to take better care of the
environment. Some habits to consider are: gardening, composting,
conserving energy or water, recycling, driving only one car (especially with the
price of gas going up daily), shopping at thrift and second-hand stores, and
buying local products. Ask God to use this time to change you from
a consumer who just uses God’s creation as a commodity to a steward who takes
good care of creation as a sacred gift. Keep in mind that
everything in creation is connected, and when people don’t follow God’s call to
take care of it, everyone ultimately suffers. So help make our
common ground holy ground by doing the right thing for the environment whenever
you have an opportunity to do so.
Reduce your
spending. For month six,
reduce the amount of money you spend by choosing only seven different places to
distribute your money. Wal-Mart isn’t the only retail store that
have bargains. Use coupons as well to save money.
These may be places such as a grocery store, a gas station, a
store that sells general household items you may need during the month, school
expenses, a medical fund, a travel fund, and paying your bills online. Giving to
your church and charities is a separate endeavor that you should continue
uninterrupted during this month.
In fact, you should increase your
giving this month by redirecting some of the money you’ve saved from reducing
your spending to helping other people (such as by welcoming others through
hospitality and giving to organizations that fight poverty). Ask
God to increase your compassion for people in need while you decrease your
spending on yourself.
Reduce your
stress. For month seven, reduce the amount of
stress in your life by observing a weekly Sabbath day for rest and worship and
by pausing at seven different times throughout each day to pray.
At midnight, pray for those who are going through dark times of
suffering. At dawn, give God thanks and praise for the gift of a
new day. At midmorning, ask the Holy Spirit to bless your work for
that day. At noon, commit to doing your best to help change the
world for the better and point other people to the hope they can only find in
Jesus. At midafternoon, pray for the right perspective on your
life so you can invest your limited time into what matters most.
At early evening, thank God for what you’ve experienced during the
day and ask Him to give you peace to transition into night. At
bedtime, pray for God to deliver you and others you know from evil and thank Him
that His love is greater than any sin. Notice how less stress in
your life has given you more clarity, so you can better discern what does and
doesn’t truly matter.The Bible recognizes the significance of seven from Genesis to Revelations as Fullness, Completion, and Perfection. Take the seven month challenge; apply these seven principles and rejoice in self awareness, reflection, and improvement.
