If You Give Up Something for Lent
Should I Surrender Something for Lent?
- UnlockingTheBible.org
- 2017 20 Mar
"Would you lot similar half my brownie?"
"No thanks," my friend said. "I've given upwardly sugar for Lent."
Guilt pinched my center. I glanced around my church'due south fellowship hall, filled with folks enjoying their repast. How many of them had too sacrificed something for Lent? I'd never given up anything during Lent. But should I?
40 Days of Sacrifice
For most ii,000 years, Christians have ready aside time for self-examination and repentance during the weeks before Easter. Early church fathers and the Council of Nicea (AD 325) observed days of fasting—from a few days to 40 days—only it was Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604) who established the 40-day season between Ash Wednesday and Easter that many 21st-century Christians find.1
Neither my family unit nor the church I attended as a child paid much attention to the Lenten season. Instead, they focused on the joyous celebration of our Risen Savior. In my adulthood, however, I've attended churches that offer Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Currently, I attend a church building that offers Ash Wednesday services and Lenten Bible studies. I've learned to appreciate the somber time of reflection these services and studies provide.
The Danger of Lent
Many Christians view Lent every bit an opportunity to refocus attention on God'due south love for the states, and then great a love that he sent his son to die for our sins. Giving up something nosotros dear—a food or an activity—to remind usa of God's sacrificial love tin can be benign to our spiritual growth, especially if we supplant it with a spiritual discipline such as Bible reading, prayer, or fasting. During Lent, we can evaluate our spiritual health—how well the life of the Risen Christ is being manifest in u.s..
But I likewise run into the danger of setting aside sure days for self-examination and repentance. Any spiritual do can devolve into a hollow ritual; viewing some days as holier than others tin lead to hypocrisy. We may develop a Lenten and non-Lenten attitude as hands as we develop a Sunday and non-Sunday listen-prepare, falling into the sin Jesus exposed in the Pharisees: "These people accolade me with their lips, only their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain" (Matthew fifteen:8-nine NIV).
The Cede That Pleases God
Many Scriptures remind us that physical sacrifices are only valuable if they're given from a wholly devoted heart. The prophet Samuel told King Saul, "To obey is ameliorate than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). And David wrote, "You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it.…The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit…a broken and humbled eye" (Psalm 51:sixteen-17 HCSB).
The Old Testament prophets consistently spoke out against sacrifices that were futile attempts to comprehend sinful actions. Jesus also criticized the religious leaders for offering sacrifices that meant null (Matthew 23:23-25). The same could be said of any spiritual practise we undertake for the wrong reason, whether it be Sunday morning time worship, pocket-sized-group Bible study, volunteer piece of work, or personal devotional fourth dimension.
Another danger of setting aside special times of sacrifice is our tendency to ignore these practices the residual of the yr. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must plough from your selfish ways, have up your cantankerous daily, and follow me" (NLT). It'southward the daily-ness of cede that most interests God and all-time reflects our commitment to him—a 365-day devotion to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly earlier God (Micah 6:8).
The Daily-ness of Cede
When Paul told the Romans to nowadays their bodies every bit a living sacrifice, I retrieve he had in mind the daily-ness of sacrifice (12:one-2). My commitment to Jesus should involve the post-obit:
- Daily contemplation of the cost Jesus paid for my sins and my inability to meet God'due south standard of righteousness
- Daily commitment to rely more on the Holy Spirit and less on myself
- Daily reflection on the countless supply of God'southward mercy and grace
- Daily gratitude for the means he allows me to be his hands and feet in a pain earth
Motivation is everything. David said the one thing he desired was spending time in God's presence (Psalm 27:4). He also spoke of daily fulfilling his vows to the Lord (Psalm 61:8). Some other psalmist wrote that he thirsted for God similar a deer thirsts for water (Psalm 42:one-2). Over again, at that place's the daily-ness cistron. After all, how many times a day does a deer seek water?
Vii Ideas to Practice Sacrifice
Here are a few ways we can plow 40-twenty-four hour period sacrifices into 365-solar day spiritual practices:
- Attend weekly worship services at a local church.
- Constitute a daily Bible reading program. Start with Marker, the shortest gospel. Read fifteen-xx verses a day and you'll end past Easter.
- Establish a daily prayer time. Beginning with ane thank-you and ane request in the morning and in the evening. Add more than thank-yous, requests, and prayer times as God directs.
- Look for opportunities to share with someone why you gloat Easter or other religious holidays.
If the above practices are already part of your routine, consider adding these:
- Join a weekly small-grouping Bible written report.
- Invest 1 hour a month at a local shelter, soup kitchen, or other community programme. Make clear that you serve because of what Jesus has washed for yous.
- Spend time with at to the lowest degree one neighbor each calendar month. Speak about your organized religion in Christ if the opportunity arises.
The I Who Gave Himself for You
The core of the Easter message is the new life bachelor to every person because of the redemption Jesus provided through his decease and resurrection. If nosotros've accepted Jesus as Savior, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, as Paul told the Galatian churches, "The life you lot see me living is not 'mine,' but information technology is lived by organized religion in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (two:20 MSG).
If we spend the weeks before Easter cultivating a spiritual exercise that makes our new life more evident to others twelvemonth-circular, we accolade the Risen Christ who gave u.s.a. that life, don't we?
one. http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/offset-of-lent.html
This article originally appeared on UnlockingTheBible.org. Used with permission.
Paradigm courtesy: Unsplash.com
Publication date: March 20, 2017
Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/should-i-give-up-something-for-lent.html
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