"Letting Go of Your Stuff" | November 30, 2025 | Ps Joel Lowery

There's a curious paradox woven throughout Scripture that challenges everything our culture tells us: sometimes less is actually more. Not in a minimalist-aesthetic kind of way, but in a deeply spiritual, life-transforming sense. The ancient wisdom of Solomon captures this beautifully: "Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind."

One handful. Not two. Not arms overflowing. Just one.

The Original Lie

The deception began in a garden, among abundant fruit trees and endless provision. Adam and Eve had everything - literally paradise - with only one restriction. Yet when the serpent appeared, he asked that age-old question that still echoes today: "Did God really say that?"

The lie wasn't about the fruit itself. It was about what they didn't have. The enemy's strategy hasn't changed: convince us that what we lack is what we need to be happy, fulfilled, and complete. He whispers that contentment is always just one purchase away, one achievement beyond our grasp, one upgrade in the future.

This is the treadmill so many find themselves on - constantly running toward a happiness that remains perpetually out of reach.

The Measurement That Matters

Jesus cut through this deception with remarkable clarity: "Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own."

Read that again. Your life is not measured by what you own.

You are not what you drive. You are not what you wear. You are not defined by your possessions, your square footage, or your bank account balance. Yet we live in a world that screams the opposite, especially during the holiday season when Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday deals promise fulfillment through consumption.

The rich young ruler discovered this truth the hard way. When he came to Jesus asking how to gain eternal life, Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor. The young man walked away sad, not because having possessions was wrong, but because his possessions had him. His stuff owned him more than he owned it.

Why We Can't Let Go

If we're honest, releasing our grip on stuff is harder than it sounds. Two powerful forces keep us tethered to our accumulation:

Fear grips us with worry about the future. What if we need it someday? What if times get hard? What if we can't replace it? This fear-based hoarding reveals something deeper - a lack of faith that God will provide in the future as He provides today. There's a difference between being a good steward and living in fear. One trusts God; the other trusts our ability to stockpile enough to feel secure.

Sentiment attaches memories and emotions to objects. Every item tells a story, marks a milestone, or connects to someone we love. But here's a freeing truth: God may give us things for a season, and that season may not be forever. We can thank Him for the memory, for what that item meant during its time, and then release it to bless someone else. When we spend all our energy looking backward, we miss the future God has for us.

The Path to One-Handful Living

So how do we practically move toward this simpler, freer way of life?

Throw it out. Not just decluttering - that's temporary. We're talking about de-owning. Those bags destined for donation that sit in the garage for years? Take them. That wedding dress preserved in a box that no one will wear? Release it. The baseball cards, the trophies, the "maybe someday" items - let them go. Your life is too valuable, your calling too great, and your God too good to waste your life on stuff that doesn't last.

Buy less. Studies show that 62% of people shop to cheer themselves up. That dopamine hit from unboxing something new is real but fleeting. You buy the car, and suddenly everyone has that car. The new device becomes old in months. The psalmist wrote about being so full of God's goodness that we don't need things to make us feel important. What if we stopped chasing temporary highs and found our security in God's unchanging love?

Give more. Here's a perspective shift: if you have a car, three meals a day, and a roof over your head, you're among the wealthiest people in the world. The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to teach the rich - that's us - not to trust in money, which is unreliable, but in God "who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." Notice that: enjoyment. God isn't against blessing. He's against blessing becoming our god.

Paul continues with the key: use your resources to do good, be generous, always ready to share. Why? Because in doing so, you're "storing up treasure as a good foundation for the future so that you may experience true life."

The Question That Changes Everything

Are you accumulating on earth what you cannot keep, or are you investing in heaven what you cannot lose?

This isn't about guilt or shame. It's about freedom. It's about living with open hands instead of clenched fists.

Why One Handful Is Better

When you're carrying something with both hands full, you're limited. But with one handful, you have a hand free. Free to help someone who's fallen. Free to put your arm around someone who's hurting. Free to give to someone in need. Free to point upward in praise to the God who provides everything.

One handful with quietness beats two handfuls with anxiety every single time.

The world will keep telling you that more is better, that happiness comes with the next purchase, that you deserve it all. But Jesus offers something far greater: contentment, peace, and purpose that no amount of stuff can provide.

What if this season, instead of accumulating more, you discovered the profound freedom of living with less? What if you found that God's "less" in your hands accomplishes more than your "more" ever could?

The invitation stands: let go of what doesn't matter so you can hold tightly to what does. Travel light. Live free. Experience the abundant life that comes not from having everything, but from having the One who is everything.