Week 3: The Freedom of Simplicity

1. Read and meditate on Luke 18:18–30 for 5 mins.
2. Contemplate the scripture. What is God speaking to you about following Jesus and money/possessions?
3. Which of the 10 simplicity practices do you practice well? Why don’t you practice the others well?
4. Complete one of the following exercises this week:  

Exercise #1: Clothing

1. Take everything out of your closet(s) and throw it in a giant pile.  
2. Sort your giant pile into five smaller piles:
   •  Keep.
   • Giveaway.
   • Sell.
   • Throw away/recycle.
   • Wait.
3. Place the “Keep” pile back in your closet in an organized manner.
4. Pick a level.  
   • Here’s a few ideas, with varying levels of intensity, depending on how serious you want to get about mini-malism:
     • Idea 1: just do the five-pile exercise above, keep as many items as you want.
     • Idea 2: “Project 333,” a minimalism fashion challenge to dress with 33 items or less for 3. See https://bemorewithless.com/project-333/
     • Idea 3: the “Ten Item Wardrobe.” Limit your wardrobe to ten items (not including socks, underwear, umbrellas, etc.). This doesn’t mean ten outfits, as you can mix and match to come up with a surpris- ing number of outfits with only ten items.
     • Idea 4: The uniform. Steve Jobs made this famous with his signature black turtleneck, jeans, and New Balance running shoes. But honestly, creatives, intellectuals, and elites have been doing this for hundreds of years, to give more mental space to their work. People who do the uniform usually have several copies of the same items, for laundry, cleanliness, wear and tear, etc. A more realistic ver- sion of the “uniform” for most people is to pick out 2-3 outfits per season and wear them consistently.  

As you explore these ideas and more, remove unnecessary guilt from your decision-making process. Remember: this is about freedom.

Exercise #2: Stuff

1. Go through your apartment or home room by room and do the above exercise with your things. 
2. Sort your stuff into five piles:
   • Keep.
   • Giveaway.
   • Sell.
   • Throw away/recycle.
   • Wait.
3. Carefully put the “keep” pile back in an organized manner.
4. A good place to start is your linen closet or bathroom, as there’s very few sentimental items, and they are small and easy to do. Save major projects like the garage, and any sentimental items, for last.
5. The living area is an easy next step, since you feel an immediate relief, and there’s rarely closets involved.  
6. Navigate by a few basic principles.
   • Avoid duplicates. We rarely need two of anything. Including sheets, towels, brooms, etc.
   • Avoid collections. Do you really need a coffee mug from every city you’ve ever been to? Your DVD’s from 1995? Every Star Wars Happy Meal toy? Usually just a few will do just fine, if we need them at all.
   • Hold each item and ask a few questions: Does this spark joy? (Marie Kondo’s question) Do I need this? Does somebody else need this? Do this prayerfully and with zero guilt.
   • And again, save sentimental items for last. This process is far more emotional than most people realize.

Exercise #3: Papers

1. Go through all your papers and files and do the above exercise, but this time using some kind of a digitizer.
2. You may want to buy or borrow a digital scanner, or simply use your smartphone.
3. A surprising number of things around the house can be digitized, such as:
   • Photos/photo albums.
   • Most of what’s in your filing cabinet.
   • Much what’s gathering dust on your desk.
   • Almost all of what’s sitting in your “junk drawer.”
4. File or organize what you can’t digitize.  
   • Pickup some filing cabinets, and/or plastic bins, and find away to sort the leftover items you can’t digitize.
   • This can be a tedious, time-consuming process, so you might want to give yourself more than week.
5. Remember to recycle.

1. What does Luke 18:18–30 teach us about following Jesus and money/possessions?
2. How can you simplify your life in order to be with Jesus more? (consider the 10 practical principles)
3. Name three things that enslave you to money, buying, possessions and/or hurrying?
4. Which of the 3 option did you chose in the weekly practice? Tell the group what happened.