TRASH IT | Convo #6: Conclusion

One question keeps cutting through the noise for us: what do you want the most? Not the answer you know you’re supposed to give, but the one your life proves through what you cling to, defend, and keep making room for. If you’ve felt spiritually distracted, emotionally full, or like you can’t quite experience God’s presence the way you want, this conversation brings it back to something deeper than behavior. It brings it back to desire.

In this final episode of the "TRASH IT!" conversation collection, we talk about how “holy housekeeping” is more than cleaning up habits. It’s spiritual decluttering for the heart: noticing what we take in, what we repeat, what we carry, and the narratives we keep believing. We reflect on Philippians 3:7-8, where Paul calls everything else garbage compared to knowing Christ, and we explore why this isn’t about forced sacrifice or earning approval. It’s about making space to see God clearly so everything else can find its proper place or be released.

We also lean on Psalm 27:4 and the idea of a "one thing" life. Choosing Jesus as our central desire doesn’t make everything easier, but it makes everything clearer, because we stop crowding our vision with what we have to justify, compromise for, or keep pulling back out of the trash. We close with the reminder that Seek Him leads to Speak Him, creating room not only for God, but for the people He’s entrusted to us. 

The conversation guide that goes along with this episode is found in the Family Disciple Me app!

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Transcript

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The Question Under Everything

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Over the past few months, as I've been walking through this trash-it journey with the Lord, this hasn't just been about content I've been creating. This has been something God has been working on and doing in me. Every conversation in this collection, be it about what I take in, the habits I repeat, the emotions I carry, the narratives I believe, each one of these has been a real point of impact in my own life. But as I've kept circling through it all, the Lord just wouldn't let me move on quite yet. He keeps bringing back to me one ultimate question. And the longer that I've spent time with him in this, the clearer it's become that this is the question that's underneath everything in this holy housekeeping that we've been doing. And that question is what do you want the most? Hi, my name is Tasha. And if you're jumping into this podcast episode, well, for the first time, I'm so glad that you're here with us. For most of you, you've walked through this entire trash it conversation collection with me. And well, here we are at the very end of this collection. And as we arrive at this final episode, I have to tell you, this is the one that has hit my heart the deepest. I haven't felt like this collection has been complete until I recorded this particular podcast episode. Because as the Lord has been asking me, what do you want the most? I've had to sit with my own honest responses to that question because it really inspires me to ask questions of myself. Questions like this. Do I want God's way or do I want my own way? Do I want some of me and some of him? Do I want all of me and none of him? Or do I actually want less of me if that's what it takes, so that I can have more of him? Now, if you've been in church for any length of time, you know the quote right answer, right? But there's a really big difference between knowing the right answer in your mind and allowing that answer to move into your heart and then all the way into your life. Because here's what I know. When you start paying attention to what you hold on to, what you protect, what you make room for, what you make excuses for, what you make allowances for, well, your answer and my answer in that to God's question shows up really, really clearly. As for me, as I've been seeking the Lord about this, I know that I want Him the most. But here's the truth: there are some things that get in the way of me fully experiencing God's presence, not because he's distant, but because I get distracted by all the stuff in my life. Not because he's withholding from me, but because, well, I'm full up. I'm sometimes full up of my own thoughts, my own preferences. I'm full up of all the emotions, the angst, the feelings, all the things that I'm not willing to release. And what I've realized in all of this is I don't experience less of him because he's giving me less or offering me less. I experience less of him because I have less room. So when I answer that question that he asked, What do you want the most? I know that what I want the most is to experience the Lord, but it has everything to do with what I do in this holy housekeeping.

Making Room To Experience God

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I love how Paul expresses this in Philippians chapter 3, verses 7 and 8. He wrote, Whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost everything. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. I find it so interesting how the very wording of this passage completely connects back to our trash it conversation collection. Paul counted everything as garbage compared to gaining and knowing Christ. In this scripture, he's not talking about being forced to give things up. He's talking about reevaluating everything that he's been storing in the house of his life. Everything that once felt like gain to him, he now sees differently. Maybe not because those things have necessarily changed in value, but because his desire for Christ has. He realized that there's something of so much worth, something so much greater, something so much more valuable that everything else, when placed next to that desire to know Christ, well, it simply doesn't even compare. And honestly, that's what God has been bringing me back to over and over again in this conversation collection. What do you want the most? Because ultimately, all of this isn't about just trying to clean up our lives. This isn't about forcing ourselves to just let things go. This isn't about earning God's approval or trying to live perfect lives so that we can earn salvation. No, this is about making space to see God clearly. And as we do that, as we make space for Him, then everything else in our lives finds its proper space or gets released and trashed altogether. And this is where that holy housekeeping imagery that we've been using through this whole conversation collection, well, it really comes into focus.

Counting Everything As Garbage

SPEAKER_00 6:48

I'm living this out in real time right now in my world. My husband and I are stepping into a new season called empty nesting. We're shifting rhythms, we're changing things about our lives. And as we're doing this, I've been going through every room of our house. And I'm asking the same question over and over again. Does this stay or does this go? And what I've noticed is that there are things I've held on to for years, things that I thought mattered, that I now clearly see they didn't really matter at all. And then there's other things that were buried, tucked away, that I pull out and realize this is a treasure and it's been hidden all these years. As I've been going through this housekeeping in the physical realm, I've been able to let go of things and reprioritize things so that I can see more clearly again. I've been able to reevaluate what I have, what I want, what I need, what I desire, what I don't need. I've noticed along the way what really does matter in my life. And the same is true in our hearts. We've spent this whole collection talking about this holy housekeeping, looking at what we take in, what we repeat, what we hold on to, what we carry, what we believe. And this is where it all comes together in our hearts. Because, friend, this isn't just about getting rid of things as an end unto itself. This is about making more space for God in our lives. When our hearts are full of things that we're not meant to carry, to hold on to, to keep, we don't have the space to receive everything that God is offering to us. And so ultimately, this becomes a question of desire, not just of behavior, not just of self-discipline or habits or what we eat, what we do. This is about desire. It goes back to that question, God's question. What do you want the most? Because here's what I know. We'll always make room for what we value the most. We'll always hold on to what we believe is worth keeping. That's true for me as I go room by room, closet by closet in my home, but it's even more true in my heart. And I believe it's true for your heart. I love what the psalmist wrote about this in Psalm chapter 27, verse 4. King David said, One thing I ask from the Lord. This only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. In this beautiful verse, we see such a picture, a very clear perspective. There is one thing that David says is central to his heart and life, and everything else for him, when he's walking with God, aligns around that. And when that happens in our lives, when we choose Jesus as our one thing, everything about our lives will become more clear. Not necessarily easier, but more clear because we're no longer cluttered with everything else that blocks our perspective, our view of Him. We choose what matters the most, and then we align our lives around that. This is where it can get really real. Well, if I can say it that way for all of us, because whatever we're keeping in our lives that we have to justify, that we have to compromise for, that we have to make excuses about, that we keep pulling out of the garbage can when we know that's where it belongs, well, those are the very things that answer the question, what do you want the most? Those are the things that block our clearest view of Jesus. I know because this is what I battle. But when I look back to some of my earliest decisions, when I think back to my earliest choices, I remember that as a teenager, I set a one thing goal for my life. I said, I

One Thing Desire And Daily Choice

SPEAKER_00 11:24

want to know Christ. I want to see God's face. I want to encounter his glory. I want to feel his presence. I want to see him more. I want to see him move powerfully, miraculously, personally. That's what I want the most. And if that's still what I want the most, then I have to live like that's what I want the most. I have to prioritize that. I have to make space for that, which means I must choose intentionally, deliberately, more of him and less of me. And that's not a one-time decision. I believe it's a daily decision, so that instead of dabbling in lesser things, instead of hoarding things, protecting things, whether it's those bad habits or ungodly emotions or false narratives or unhealthy intake or whatever else doesn't belong, I remind myself of my choice again and again. I want one thing the most. So when God asks me that question, what do you want the most? I answer him, Lord, I want you. Lord, I still want you. Now, maybe you hear me say that and you think I'm crazy. I've had people tell me I'm crazy for that one thing desire, that I would actually choose less of me so that I can have more of him. If you're one of those people, well, it's okay. I love you and I pray for you. But here's the thing: I know that there's others out there, and maybe you're one of these people. People who, when you hear me say, I have this one thing desire, and that's more of Jesus. When you hear me say that, you feel something stirring in your own heart. You understand this desire. You echo this longing, this longing that says, I want to experience the Lord God Almighty too. And you're willing to do whatever it takes to make space for that. So let's live out this one thing desire together. We know as we conclude that this isn't about having a perfectly clean life. This is about creating a heart now that has space, space to see Jesus, space to hear him, space to walk with him, space to encounter him, space to know him. Because at the end of all of this, this entire journey of trash it, some time for holy housekeeping, it all comes back to him. It comes back to this question. What do you want the most? Because whatever your answer is, whatever my answer is, our lives will make room for that. So, friend, choose well and then keep choosing well today and tomorrow and again the next day and the next, because this conversation and well, this holy housekeeping, it doesn't end here. This is something we're going to come back to every day for the rest of our lives until we meet Jesus face to face in eternity.

Seek Him Then Speak Him

SPEAKER_00 14:56

And friend, as we seek Him about this for our own lives, let's remember that that then opens up space and value to speak him into the lives of those precious ones that he's entrusted to us. You see, as we let go of all the things that he's telling us to lay down at his feet, he wants us to make more space in our hearts and our lives for the people that he's entrusted to us. And as we value and treasure them, he wants us to talk to them about what he's doing in our lives. This is how meeting with God becomes making him known. This is how seek him leads to speak him. So, friend, go with God. I pray that you will experience more and more of his presence in your life, even today. I look forward to being with you in the next conversation collection. But until then, be encouraged.