Are you a hoarder? You can have your living environment perfectly pristine, and still be a hoarder. I’m speaking about being a spiritual hoarder. A hoarder in the commonly understood sense is someone who hangs on to things they don’t need long after these items have served their usefulness. It’s a mentality that says, “What if I need it someday?” The hoarder just can’t discard unnecessary objects. Eventually, the obsession of keeping things can become unsafe and unhealthy. Personal relationships are damaged because no one wants to be around all that junk. Hoarding is an obsessive attachment to objects and things that provides a false sense of security. The hoarder feels safe with all their stuff even though others may find it nauseating.
Spiritual hoarders do the same thing. I will list some of the things that spiritual hoarders hang on to that make them feel safe spiritually. First, spiritual hoarders are attached to unhealthy people in their lives that they associated with before they became a Christian. They can’t let go of these damaged individuals. This happens to those bound by alcohol and drugs. The individual comes to the Lord and gets delivered from their addictions, but they still hang around the addicts they once knew. They hoard these people, sometimes even in their own living situation. To break the bondage of spiritual hoarding, cut the soul ties with every person with whom you’ve had previous demonic attachments. Delete all their text messages, emails, and photos. If you have a toxic ex-friend or ex-lover, stop spiritually hoarding them and anything that represents them.
Second, stop hoarding demonic items in your surroundings. Get rid of all the things of your former life that represent witchcraft. Throw out those crystals you believed had spiritual energy. Get rid of every book that exalts non-Christian beliefs, unless needed for official research. Trash the dream catchers, sage, amulets, yoga mats, bongs, and Buddhas. Don’t hoard anything that could keep an open door to the devil
Finally, you can hoard old emotions and evil desires in your mind. Get rid of anything that was tied to a pornography addiction and triggers lustful thoughts. Kick out memories of old relationships that were spiritually poisonous. Don’t keep hoarding all the feelings of worldly pleasures from excessive gaming, gambling, social media cravings, the thrill of clubbing, and sexual fantasies of the old life before Christ. I could keep going, and for some you what you’ve hoarded could be a long list. Just remember that what you are hanging on to could be damaging to your present spiritual condition. James 1:21 admonishes, “Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness.” That’s a good description of spiritual hoarding. If you are overwhelmed by things which you’ve hoarded from the old life before Christ, then do as Hebrews 12:1 says, “Lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” You can’t take it with you when you’re gone, so clean your spiritual house now and repent of your spiritual hoarding.
