Is trash your treasure?

Every one of us must throw out the trash. 

You know- stuff that’s no longer useful. 

Things like empty milk jugs, old magazines, and broken tools. 

In fact, we need to spend a lot of time just getting rid of junk. 

If we don't do it daily, we'll eventually have a major cleanup project.

Let me tell you about one painful experience that I had to overcome. 

During one of my first speaking engagements, I almost had a fight break out. 

I had been asked to speak for the Street Ministry at my home church. 

As I spoke, a man on the back row started yelling again and again at the top of his lungs. 

“Lord, have mercy on me!” 

After my every sentence, he yelled again “Lord, have mercy on me!” 

I motioned for one of the councilors to help him, but the man pushed him away.

During the commotion, I almost forgot everything that I was going to say. 

I abruptly ended the message after speaking only 5 to 10 minutes. If I had held on to this painful experience, I would have never spoken in public again.

The reason that a lot of us fail is we treat our minds like a trash bin.

Instead of holding on to our good experiences we are throwing them away. 

We must purposely remember the good things that God has given us and treasure them (see Psalms 103:2). 

Some of us hold on to every painful experience. 

Making our minds so cluttered, we can't find the things of real value-our treasures. 

If we don't throw out the trash daily, we are actually valuing our trash. 

In reality, the trash has become our treasure. 

We’ll even hang out with people, which hang on to bad experiences. 

Have you ever wondered why people who have the same weaknesses hang out together? 

You'd think that they'd seek out someone who's successful in their area of weakness, and ask for help. 

Instead, they feel more comfortable with the people who have the same problem. 

They are treasuring the same thing, which is their common problem.

Let's start throwing the trash out about our own selves. 

After all, we have to hang out with ourselves every day. 

Throughout the day, we should recognize our shortcomings, seek forgiveness, forgive ourselves, and then move on. 

Don't continually hang on to the trash even about yourself. 

Instead of throwing trash away, many hide it somewhere in a back room in their mind. 

They think that it’s well hidden, but the truth is its stinks up the entire house! 

When we don't forgive ourselves and others, it contaminates our entire personalities. 

It comes across when we greet others, answer the phone, and talk to our families. 

Not only must we throw out the trash on ourselves, but we must throw out the trash on others. 

We must forgive them and move on. 

You don't do it for them. 

You do it for you. 

Who wants to haul around a lot of trash even if it belongs to someone else?


Are you throwing out your painful experiences like you do the trash, and if so, what are you replacing them with? 

Replace them with God’s treasures. 

Think of your mind like a kitchen that needs replenishing. 

For example, take notes in Church to put the message into practice. 

Doing this helps me to stay alert, and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. 

Also, I like to read Christian authors and listen to great preaching on the Internet. 

Develop a taste for healthy material, so your mind won't be filled with trash.

What are you treasuring? 

You can never achieve more than you are, and you are becoming what you think. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived was also the richest, and he said, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. (Proverbs 23:7) 

We need to learn how to throw away painful experiences like we do the trash. 

Whenever, you share your faith, teach a Bible Study, or help with the children. 

At first, you might feel uncomfortable, and make a lot of mistakes. 

The experience may be so unpleasant that you never try again. 

First, learn to look at what went wrong, and purpose to eliminate the mistakes. 

Second, look at what went right, and improve upon it. 

Finally, throw those painful experiences away like you would an empty tooth paste tube. 

You’ll be on the pathway to success.
"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others”. 

Jesus, Son of God. Matthew 6:14. (MSG)

M. H. Dennis