God Take It ALL: Clothes Giveaway
Why I Am Giving Away All My Clothes
"Obedience is greater than sacrifice" and in this season, I'm learning a good bit of both! One day I was in my prayer time with God and I was reflecting on the concepts He was teaching me: selflessness and humility. Although I have grown and come a long way, I still am not where I want to be. I want to be completely selfless! A personal goal of mine is to be selfless enough that I can take off my favorite clothes or jewelry pieces right then and there when someone compliments me about it. I'll get back to that in a second. During this time, I told God that I was in the season of giving and that I wanted to show complete selflessness. I told Him that I was not attached to materialistic items and He said "show me". In a quick and somewhat jokingly response, I said "I'll give away my clothes" and God said "Okay!" Right then and there, I knew I had said something I could not take back but I also knew that it was possible. His command "show me" echoed in my heart. This was the ultimate test and it was time to put my lessons to work.
At first, no one was responding to my social media promotions of my new assignment. Great! Maybe I heard God wrong; no one wants my clothes so I get to keep them. No! That is not showing complete selflessness and those thoughts were not me keeping my promise. So I took it a step farther by taking pictures and videos of my clothing and began messaging people to spread the word. Finally! My 90's collection did the trick! If you know me, you know I love love LOVE 90's almost everything especially the clothes. High waisted jeans, Cosby sweaters, baggy jackets, Keds, etc. are a few of my favorite things and I had a story for each piece. Now that I think about it, it's like that with majority of the clothes in my closet and I think that's how we get attached to material things.
I always said and believed that I was not attached to material things and could easily do it when the time came. Now that the time is really here, it's difficult for me to admit that it's a hard thing to do! I realized that I am privileged enough to own and afford clothes whereas other people may not have that same luxury. I easily overlooked it before now. The first week into the second was mostly composing of getting people to shop; because all I had to do was promote, it was easy to post pictures of the things in my closet but the more people responded and came to get clothes, the more I realized that: 1. I don't wear a lot of my clothes and just hold on to them because of the attachment I feel to them. 2. I wanted my clothes due to that relationship to them! 3. Seeing someone else wanting them made me happy that my trash and neglect was another person's treasure but it hurt lowkey LOL and 4. I was not as selfless and humble as I thought. I had to fight thoughts of selfishness when someone asked me if I was selling something that just so happened to be one of my favorite pieces. I also did not think through which clothing pieces I was actually going to keep (which is going to be 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants), which clothes were give aways and for how much. I had to create a suggested pricing list but it was hard sticking to it once I saw people had budgets and once I saw the joy on their faces after trying on something.
Into this third week, it's been more difficult than ever! I have clothes all over the floor on one side of my room and some covering half my bed. It's one thing to be accidentally messy and unorganized and it's definitely another to be those things on purpose! Another issue I'm having is finding what to wear to work, church, etc. I don't know where certain clothing pieces I'm used to wearing are. More than likely I sold most of them and didn't realize it but getting dressed for work this past week almost brought me into tears of frustration. I took deep breaths and prayed. I told God I would remain obedient no matter how hard I am fighting my flesh and emotions I'm facing while also preparing to move apartments. I absolutely don't want to bring any of the clothes with me if the plan is to get rid of them before I move. I had a deadline for this test and still have a lot of clothes to get rid of! So if my friends and acquaintances inside, outside, and surrounding circle of friends do not buy or receive any of my clothes, I will donate the rest to natural disaster centers, homeless shelters, and to domestic violence victims. Places like the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity are on my list of places to donate to (although I have to look up every organizations' donating policies).
I continue to pray and remain faithful because God has been nothing but faithful to me throughout my life! I know Him to be a Father, a Provider, a Keeper, and so much more! When I tell people what I'm doing they asked why am I doing this? How am I so committed? And how do I feel? I will admit I hid my true feelings because it's not my flesh that needs to be fulfilled but my spirit and God is the priority so my response is "I have to be obedient" and I do. I don't know what tomorrow holds or if it's promised and neither do I care. When people tell me God will bless me tenfold after completing this test, I choose not to think about it. I just want to focus on my goals and face God at the end of my test without having the expectancy of depending on man to supply a need but the expectancy of depending on GOD to supply my needs. I am so excited and filled with joy when I think about what God will do and about to do for not me but for the people who end up with my clothes!
P.S. From the first paragraph I mentioned a personal goal of mine was to take off a clothing/jewelry piece right then and there when someone compliments it, I FINALLY did it and was proud of myself! A customer came through my line at a store I work at and compliment this silver braided necklace I was wearing. It was the only thing I was wearing that jazzed up my outfit but I did not care. She complimented it and I told her it was a little faded and she said that it was still beautiful and she wanted something like that. The line got busier and people were talking to me in all different directions (something I saw as a distraction) but I ended up taking it off and placing it in her bag after she was done paying. She insisted that I didn't have to do that but I ignored her and wished her a blessed day. I didn't have time to bask in the moment but I did do a praise dance in the break room when I received my break. It feels good to be obedient to God as well as complete a personal goal!
I hope you find this post inspiring and contagious!
I always said and believed that I was not attached to material things and could easily do it when the time came. Now that the time is really here, it's difficult for me to admit that it's a hard thing to do! I realized that I am privileged enough to own and afford clothes whereas other people may not have that same luxury. I easily overlooked it before now. The first week into the second was mostly composing of getting people to shop; because all I had to do was promote, it was easy to post pictures of the things in my closet but the more people responded and came to get clothes, the more I realized that: 1. I don't wear a lot of my clothes and just hold on to them because of the attachment I feel to them. 2. I wanted my clothes due to that relationship to them! 3. Seeing someone else wanting them made me happy that my trash and neglect was another person's treasure but it hurt lowkey LOL and 4. I was not as selfless and humble as I thought. I had to fight thoughts of selfishness when someone asked me if I was selling something that just so happened to be one of my favorite pieces. I also did not think through which clothing pieces I was actually going to keep (which is going to be 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants), which clothes were give aways and for how much. I had to create a suggested pricing list but it was hard sticking to it once I saw people had budgets and once I saw the joy on their faces after trying on something.
Into this third week, it's been more difficult than ever! I have clothes all over the floor on one side of my room and some covering half my bed. It's one thing to be accidentally messy and unorganized and it's definitely another to be those things on purpose! Another issue I'm having is finding what to wear to work, church, etc. I don't know where certain clothing pieces I'm used to wearing are. More than likely I sold most of them and didn't realize it but getting dressed for work this past week almost brought me into tears of frustration. I took deep breaths and prayed. I told God I would remain obedient no matter how hard I am fighting my flesh and emotions I'm facing while also preparing to move apartments. I absolutely don't want to bring any of the clothes with me if the plan is to get rid of them before I move. I had a deadline for this test and still have a lot of clothes to get rid of! So if my friends and acquaintances inside, outside, and surrounding circle of friends do not buy or receive any of my clothes, I will donate the rest to natural disaster centers, homeless shelters, and to domestic violence victims. Places like the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity are on my list of places to donate to (although I have to look up every organizations' donating policies).
I continue to pray and remain faithful because God has been nothing but faithful to me throughout my life! I know Him to be a Father, a Provider, a Keeper, and so much more! When I tell people what I'm doing they asked why am I doing this? How am I so committed? And how do I feel? I will admit I hid my true feelings because it's not my flesh that needs to be fulfilled but my spirit and God is the priority so my response is "I have to be obedient" and I do. I don't know what tomorrow holds or if it's promised and neither do I care. When people tell me God will bless me tenfold after completing this test, I choose not to think about it. I just want to focus on my goals and face God at the end of my test without having the expectancy of depending on man to supply a need but the expectancy of depending on GOD to supply my needs. I am so excited and filled with joy when I think about what God will do and about to do for not me but for the people who end up with my clothes!
P.S. From the first paragraph I mentioned a personal goal of mine was to take off a clothing/jewelry piece right then and there when someone compliments it, I FINALLY did it and was proud of myself! A customer came through my line at a store I work at and compliment this silver braided necklace I was wearing. It was the only thing I was wearing that jazzed up my outfit but I did not care. She complimented it and I told her it was a little faded and she said that it was still beautiful and she wanted something like that. The line got busier and people were talking to me in all different directions (something I saw as a distraction) but I ended up taking it off and placing it in her bag after she was done paying. She insisted that I didn't have to do that but I ignored her and wished her a blessed day. I didn't have time to bask in the moment but I did do a praise dance in the break room when I received my break. It feels good to be obedient to God as well as complete a personal goal!
I hope you find this post inspiring and contagious!
This was such a humbling article. It blessed me because I know that I need to be more obedient. Continue in what you are doing to be a blessing in the lives of others. You are a great example of someone knowing and understanding how to trust God.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading! I am glad to know that this blesses you as well as inspire you to keep trusting God in whatever you are believing Him to do in your life!
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