A new season is a great time to get a new start. And organizing your home is a great place to start! Whether it’s the kitchen, bedrooms, closets or any other area of your home, you’ll be glad you made the effort to accomplish it—especially when the holidays arrive.
If you have been experiencing a time of disorder, now is your time to rediscover the beauty of order in your home and in your life. These easy steps will help you as you bring order and purpose back to your home. Take these steps, one by one, and enjoy the process along with the great results.
STEP ONE: Understand What Order Really Means
The first step to organizing your home is to understand where order and disorder originate. “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people,” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NIV). Where there is no order, there is disorder, and a lack of peace. Peace is defined as a state of freedom from disturbance, of tranquility, calm and serenity. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, so ask His presence into your home and ask for Him to speak His peace to any disorder, or to any part of your home where it looks like a storm has hit. Mark 4:39 explains how Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves causing the storm, and they obeyed, and His peace was established there. You too, with the strength Jesus gives, can regain your authority over the chaos and clutter in your home.
STEP TWO: Prayerfully Consider the Purpose of Your Home
The next step is understanding that the purpose of your home is to establish a place and residency where peace dwells. “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice,” James 3:16 (NIV). Ask the Lord God Almighty to help you not be selfish in any way, or envious of another person’s possessions, position or lifestyle. If you live in the same home with someone who demonstrates these characteristics, then you can repent of your part in the matter and ask the Lord for strength, that can enable you to do your part to bring order to everything around you. John 20:21 shows Jesus saying, “Peace be with you!”
STEP THREE: Decide What things are Needed to Accomplish that Purpose
Deciding what things are needed to accomplish a peaceful home is first determining the spirit that is present in the home, or in your heart. 1 Peter 3:4 says, “. . . but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious,” (ESV). A gentle and quiet spirit is one of a kind and gracious nature. This means that you are kind, speak kindly, and think kind thoughts. As you go around your home, think good thought toward all who live there. A quiet spirit is one that, according to Cynthia Heald, (www.disciplshiplibrary.com) bears with the disturbances of others. It is un-angered and unafraid. Are you afraid to tackle a project? Are you afraid to let go of things? Are you angry about your responsibilities? Are you angry with another person’s lack of help? Are you angry that you don’t have what you want? Confess these things and ask the Lord’s help, strength, peace, and solutions. He will give you the Holy Spirit if you ask (Luke 11:13).
STEP FOUR: Arrange things for Both Beauty and Functionality
1 Corinthians 14:40 says that things should be done in “decency and in order,” pertaining to the house of God, but this could also apply to our own houses where we invite God’s presence to be with us. 1 Corinthians 6:19 states that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 133:1 says “How good and how pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity,” (NIV). Creating a sense of unity will be a pleasant experience. Romans 12:10 says “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other,” (NLT). When we create an atmosphere that combines both beauty and function, we create an atmosphere where we can honor others over our prized possessions, but also honor them with the care we have shown to demonstrate beautiful surrounding and true affectionate love for each other.
STEP FIVE: Have an Appropriate Place for Everything
In the grand universe that God has created, everything has been given its proper place and boundaries. The sea and the sand, the sky and the land, the planets and the stars. In our home, everything can represent God’s infinite order and design. When we live with piles of clothes, or piles of paper, or piles of clutter, we are not experiencing God’s most beautiful plan of order and design, but rather feel like things are a mess and out of order. Isaiah 40:22 says, “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in,” (ESV). Establish a set place for all the things in your home.
STEP SIX: Responsibly Return Things to Their Proper Places After Each Use
Psalm 8:3 states, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,” and in it, we see that God puts things in their proper place. The Lord desires what is best for you. He has a design and plan for your home so that it can be a place of comfort and security for others. If each member of the home is operating in unity and with respect, they can return each item they have used to its proper place and help to maintain a happy home environment. Be practical but be diligent. 2 Timothy 3:14 states, “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace,” (ESV).
STEP SEVEN: Give Thanks that Your Home Can be a Peaceful Dwelling Place
The Bible paints a beautiful picture of how our homes are meant to be places of sweet gatherings for others, especially for other believers. Acts 2:46 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,” (NIV). Our homes can be a place to minister God’s love and kindness to others and to share our food with them and our glad and sincere hearts.
Romans 12:13 encourages us to be given to hospitality. May the Lord give you His counsel as you prepare your homes to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit, create a place of honor for your family, and establish regular times of hospitality for others.
Article Written By: Debbie Harper, Ph.D.
