If you’re like me, you pick up a book or a t-shirt or something that you spent “good money” on and you think, “I really should donate this, but…”

What is your “but…”? My “but” usually is…

“But I paid good money for this.”

This is often combined with… “And I feel stupid getting rid of something I just bought two minutes / days / weeks / months ago.”

My internal dialog goes something like this:

You work hard for your money.

And you spent your hard-earned money on this thing (for me it’s often books and shirts).

And now you want to get rid of it?

What a waste!

Are you regularly this careless this money or this stupid with your purchases?

What does it say about you if you donate something you bought less than a month ago?

What is wrong with you?

(Again, most of this is all in my head. I usually repeat this dialog a few times.)

My faith calls me to look at things a little differently…

To accept that I will continue to make silly, stupid and sometimes sinful decisions, but that Jesus stands ready to forgive me, raise me up and reform me into one of his faithful disciples.

To acknowledge and confess my waste of the resources entrusted to me and my pollution of the world around me… and to groan in prayer for my redemption and the redemption of the whole world.

To put a holy pause between my future paychecks and my future purchases, perhaps punctuated with prayer (and alliteration).

So… next time you’re going through mountains of clothes, books you have no intention of reading, or whatever those things are for you…

May you know the forgiveness that is yours in Jesus.

May you be honest about your shortcomings and sins.

And may you make a holy pause between your paychecks and purchases, punctuated with prayer.