Every year around this time it seems as if you hear the same thing again and again. “I’m giving up sweets, I’m giving up soda, I’m giving up eating out,” and the list goes on and on. With spring break creeping up right around the corner and goals of having that “spring break bod” in our minds, this seems like the perfect time to cut out those things we consider our guilty pleasures. Lent is the perfect time to hold ourselves accountable to those diets and to keep those promises we made ourselves, because not everyone just gives up food or drinks, but Lent isn’t just about holding ourselves accountable. It’s not just some forty day long break from whatever it is we gave up just for us to go back to it once Easter arrives. There is a much deeper meaning to it all.
We so often forget the real reason for the Lenten season: giving something up for the One who gave it all. The forty days of Lent represent the forty days Christ went out into the desert before He laid down His life for us. During those days in the desert, He fasted and spoke with our Father, asking Him for the strength, courage, and love to conquer what was to come. Just as Christ fasted and spoke with our Father, we should do the same.
It seems as if nowadays people use this time for a personal reason, to lose weight or break a bad habit, but this is not a personal experience. This is a spiritual journey between you and the One whose death and resurrection is the meaning of all of this. These forty days are meant for so much more than just giving something up, they’re meant for giving something up in honor of Him. It’s to sacrifice something for our Savior because He gave us the biggest sacrifice of all, His life.
Yes, it can be difficult, and sometimes you’ll be tempted to eat that food you’re not allowed to eat, go onto your social media accounts, or do whatever it is you told yourself you wouldn't do. Sometimes this whole “giving something up” thing can be more of an inconvenience than a spiritual journey, but just remember why you are doing this. You’re giving something up so that whenever you are tempted you can think to yourself “I’m giving this up because You gave up Your life for me.”
You’re not doing it to lose weight, you’re not doing it to feel better about yourself for awhile, you’re not just doing it because you feel bad it you don’t give something up like all of your friends. You’re doing it because Christ paid our ultimate price that we could not pay, and this is our way of thanking Him for doing so.
This is our time in the desert to be away from the distractions and temptations. It’s our time to focus on growing closer to our Father and to ask Him to help us after these forty days when we go back to our everyday lives full of distractions and temptations. Just as Christ asked our Father for the strength, courage, and love to do what He knew He needed to do, ask God for the strength, courage, and love to get through each day you face temptations and troubles. Use these days to speak with Him and truly thank Him for all that He has done for you.
So the next time you wonder why you can’t go out to eat, smoke that cigarette, post that Snapchat, or do whatever it is you gave up, remember that God is smiling upon you at that very moment you say no because He knows you are fighting the devil and putting aside these earthly and temporary pleasures in honor of His eternal and everlasting love.
