I think I finally understand this powerful season

It seems like I’ve heard people make references to what they were giving up for Lent all my life. Because I was raised a non-church-going Protestant/Spiritualist, I didn’t know much about Lent, so I didn’t understand the point of giving up something for those six weeks beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter.

For many years after I became a Christ-follower, Lent remained one of those things I didn’t know much about. Friends talked about what they gave up for Lent—chocolate, sugar, desserts, and alcohol were the most popular, but more than one gave up cursing.

One year, I decided I should give up something for Lent. I chose gossip.

About two weeks into the Lenten season, I received an email from a friend, asking what we should do about another friend’s situation. It was the first I’d heard about it—and the details were rich with irony and just begging to be shared.

But I had given up gossip for Lent.

Later, I shared that story with a pastor friend who gently said, “Jackie, you shouldn’t give up for Lent something that you shouldn’t be doing anyway.”

Oh.

He explained that the reason for giving up something for Lent is to use that self-denial as a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. It’s a type of fasting that reminds us to be extra contemplative during Lent, as Jesus was during the 40 days that he prayed and fasted in the desert before dying on the cross.

I decided I could be contemplative during Lent without giving up anything.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV)

Recently I met a woman who shared that she doesn’t give up anything, either—instead, she adds. Her additions include spending extra time in the Word, reading specific books, or doing special service activities above what she usually does. She’s still exercising self-discipline, she’s still preparing her heart and mind for Holy Week and the celebration of Easter, but she’s doing it in a way that seems so much more positive to me.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6, NIV)

May whatever path you choose for your Lenten journey be blessed.

 

Jacquelyn Lynn
Follow me
Latest posts by Jacquelyn Lynn (see all)