This kind of simplicity sets me free to receive the provision of God as a gift and freely share it with others. Rather, I am called to be content with what I am given. I find that I am to receive and rejoice in God’s kind provision with gratefulness and see it as good and to be enjoyed, but not set my heart on material things. In Matthew 6:25-34, verse 33 becomes the focal point for biblical simplicity: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
He called us to live first to serve our heavenly Creator and Savior. Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, called us to an inward reality, to live out of the heart in a way that keeps us from living to satisfy our desires and allowing them to over-run us. In our recent Study Together winter session, we looked at the spiritual discipline of simplicity. So, what is simplicity? Is it a list of behaviors and practices to embrace? Or is it something deeper? Oh, I wouldn’t have said that at the time, but I did. And in my heart, I harshly judged everyone who didn’t do the same. We lived in the inner city and did “real ministry” (whatever that is!).
We even bought replacement parts for our car from the local junkyard. I hung our clothes to dry and repurposed everything. We had a no-no list, and “extravagant” foods like pickles, olives, mushrooms, and expensive cuts of meat were on it! Everything we bought for our home was second hand. Our attempt at living a “simple life” involved a long list of do’s and don’ts. While I know we embraced God-honoring goals, I look back now and chuckle at what that meant for us in day-to-day life. And in a season of economic expansion marked by societal extravagance, we were going to “do it right” and live with less in order to have more time and money to invest in the Kingdom of God. We were setting up our home and trying to figure out how we were going to live. When Bill and I started our life together as husband and wife in the early 80’s, we fully embraced the idea of a simple lifestyle. Google tells me that I can start to live more simply by not spending money on things I don’t really need, avoiding debt (if at all possible), having a garage sale to get rid of old junk I don’t use, and buying a bike instead of a car to save money on insurance, gas, repairs, a car loan, and maintenance.īut I need my car. The definition of living the “simple life” has changed over time.Īccording to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, 1828 edition, it meant, “a manner of living in which a person does not own many things or use many modern machines and usually lives in the countryside.” Editor’s Note: Recently, our Study Together groups worked through Richard Foster’s book “Celebration of Discipline.” So many helpful conversations ensued that we thought we’d create a blog series on the topic and post articles the first week of each month.
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