Over the years, I had kept a large archive of proofed copies of past manuscripts in my office, so I would have documentation of what I had changed or edited if anyone would ask about them down the road after publication. The collection of these past versions of manuscripts eventually filled 11 cardboard boxes that stacked up in the corner of my workspace as a kind of monument to my hoarding tendency. Finally, a co-worker of mine suggested I move the boxes out of my office and into storage, which I did. In the process, I realized that I had not touched those boxes in over two years and that I no longer needed the physical copies since the electronic copies of all my projects are safely stored on my computer. Now my office looks a lot cleaner and my mind is not as cluttered by the worry that someday someone might need something from one of those boxes.
This experience made me recognize that we hang on to many things far too long that we need to simply get rid of or move on from. Most people do not remember the time you made fun of someone in grade school. So why should you still let that linger in your brain? God does not keep a record of that, so you shouldn’t either. You confessed and you’re forgiven. End of story.
The keeping of paperwork of past projects also symbolized to me that I was holding on too tightly to my own achievements and my own personal desire to prove my worth to others. But as the song by Keith and Kristyn Getty says, “My worth is not in what I own, but in the costly wounds of love at the cross.” Anything I have amassed here on earth cannot fully capture me and who I am. Only my place as God’s forgiven child through Christ’s death and resurrection will allow me to stand firm in this world and the next. So I keep what is connected to Christ and I let go of the things of this world. Then my soul is at peace.
