“Get rid of all the bitterness, rage,
anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious
behavior.”
About once every 18 months or so, I would have to ask my assistant to
come in on a Saturday with me and help me clean out my office. I was a
pack rat. I just felt like I needed to hang on to “stuff”, just in case I
needed it for the future. Most of it, I never needed ever again. When
Sarbanes-Oxley came along and record retention went from ensuring that
the right records were retained, to making sure everything was gone that
wasn’t absolutely necessary, I had to get even more aggressive about
keeping my files clean. I took a course once on how to best clean out
your office. You start with three labeled boxes in the middle of your
floor. The first one is labeled; "trash/shred". The second one is
labeled; "file somewhere else other than in my office". The third one is
labeled; "refile in my office". Every file and drawer in the office is
emptied and is to be put in one of the three boxes (or piles) before
anything goes back in a drawer or a file. If you are disciplined, what
happens is that only the essential stays and all the rest gets trashed
or moved out to be determined over time if it is needed (like clothes in
our closets, if we haven’t worn them in a year…they can go) or not.
We
need to clean out our office regularly just as we need to clean out
ourselves too. What should we throw out now to make
room for the new stuff? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:31 what to put in
the trash and shred box. He says; “Get rid of all the bitterness, rage,
anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious
behavior.” At first reading, we might be saying, that is not me. “I am
not bitter or have rage, anger towards others and for sure I don’t
slander or am I malicious to others”. Most of us are not the prime
suspects for these things so pointedly, but we each have a little of
these that can creep up when we least expect it. I’m always surprised
when I see the nicest looking people yelling something not nice on the
highway behind their car windows at someone else. It seems everyone has a
little road rage down deep inside of them. We all have the makings of
not being nice and allowing our emotions to get the best of us. Work
seems to egg it on in most of us too. Now is the time to put the three
boxes in your office and evaluate what stays and what goes. A little
housecleaning in the middle of the year could be a good thing for all
of us.
Reference: Ephesians 4:31 (New Living Testament)
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