Reflections on ways to simplify our lives

Carol decided to try an experiment. Several of her friends at work were giving up things for Lent, and she decided to join them (even though her church didn’t practice Lent). To her husband’s surprise, she gave up shopping. Once a week she did grocery shopping for her family but never bought anything for herself for 40 days.

When she thought about something she wanted to buy during that time, she said to God, I’ll let it wait. You are enough. By the end of the 40 days, she’d forgotten about most of the things she wanted. Thinking back on her experiment, she says: “Life was so much less hectic. Being in stores messes with your mind. It convinces you that you really need things you don’t need at all.”

Such experiments with simplicity (actually, frugality) are about learning to be content with whatever you have. They help us redefine the good life as “the life that is truly life.” They teach us to live with less rather than satisfying every desire for more. We learn to ask ourselves, What can I get rid of? rather than, What do I want to buy? As a result, when we have a little more, we don’t think of how we can spend it but how we can use it to help others: a flat-screen TV or helping our friends with their mortgage payment?

The heart exam

Practicing frugality means making intentional choices to keep or let go of possessions we already own (clutter?) and what we acquire. This begins as an issue of stewardship but becomes a revealer of what’s in our hearts. How does it feel to pass up buying a shirt that would make you shockingly attractive? Why is it not OK to use yard tools that are older than dirt but still work well? Why do I resist getting my sofa repaired instead of buying a new one? Such challenges help us look deeply within ourselves.

When we want to buy something (or acquire it another way), it’s wise to consider the motives that drive us. We’ll discover feelings and desires we didn’t know we had, such as:

• inadequacy (having to prove myself by owning certain items),
• people-pleasing (getting others’ approval by staying in style),
• perfectionism (making sure I have just the right high-performance rims for my car’s tires or buying my kids everything they need because I want to be a good parent).
  Recognizing these and other motives moves us to ask God: Why am I so needy? How will I learn to let you, O God, be enough?

Once a month I have an appointment not far from a large, college-slanted bookstore. I used to drop by there on my way home every month, coming away with at least one purchase. I have to confess I felt good as I drove home—as if I had friends (books) in the seat next to me. Finally I asked God, What’s going on here? Is there anything unhealthy in this? While some of it was my healthy desire to learn and grow, it was also about having “smart” books because I hang out with some smart people. It was also about my desire to cocoon away my life reading rather than reaching out and loving people. So I decided to see how many months I could go without visiting the bookstore. It’s been a good experiment.

This heart exam provides great fodder for reflection. We forego buying some little thing and say to God, Would you help me understand that you really are enough? Slowly we look to God a little more as the companion of our life and learn the joy of a simple, satisfied life.

Where to start

Consider the list below. (You’ll probably think of ideas that suit your life and wants better.) If you did one or two of the following, how would your life be more focused on what you believe is important? How would it shape your character? What qualities might be built in you? What would you have more time and money for? How might it help you invest more in people and less in things?

• Refuse to enter any kind of store more than once a week.
• Buy a new compact car every 10 years and not before.
• Wear the same shirt every Monday, the same shirt every Tuesday, the same shirt. …
• Move to a smaller home, condominium or apartment instead of moving up
• Live on a weekly allowance of $10, $20 or $30.
• Eat out less than once a week.
• Limit time spent in stores and choose not to take children or grandchildren into stores.
• Give away a piece of clothing every time you buy a new piece of clothing (even from a thrift store).
• Prepare and eat an evening meal on Monday and eat it again on Wednesday. Prepare and eat an evening meal on Tuesday and eat it again on Thursday (or prepare one large meal on Monday and eat the same thing all week).
• Give yourself a “favorite item” allowance, such as a book allowance or power tool allowance (or computer gadgets, clothing, health and fitness aids, grooming and beauty items).
• Figure out what you need for a monthly or annual income to survive, add a tithe to it, add some savings to it and then from the rest, give 50 percent.

When we do such things, we aren’t practicing legalism. We don’t want to create pride in how well we obey a set of rules we’ve invented. The point is to make space for God in our lives, to love God with all of our selves and to love others as ourselves.

This article is adapted from Jan Johnson’s book Abundant Simplicity, with permission from InterVarsity Press.