1 Peter 5:6-7,
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Right now, we are on day two of Lent. Maybe you gave something up, maybe you didn’t. Christians all over the world go through lent as a time to prepare their hearts and minds for Easter. The forty days before are a time of self-reflection and renewal. A “spring cleaning” of the soul, if you will. It’s a time to reexamine your life and weed out the parts that are taking you away from your relationship with Christ.
In order to reexamine, many people like to give up something for lent. Not a complete fast like Jesus in the desert, but maybe for you its social media or junk food. The point is to focus on the necessity you have placed on a specific item in your life and instead redirect that passion toward Jesus and your appreciation for the grace given to us through His death and resurrection. If you did give something up, keep it up! Only 39 days to go…if you didn’t give something up, I would encourage you to add something. Instead of taking away chocolate, add 15 minutes of daily devotions. Instead of deleting your Instagram, start a prayer journal.
We are bombarded by ads and social media posts that encourage us focus on ourselves. Adam and Eve did that, they focused on themselves and their selfish desires, and we all know how that turned out. I would encourage you to practice lent however you feel comfortable (add or subtract) but to make sure that your heart is in the right place. That you are humbling yourself and truly giving your cares to Jesus, because He does care for you and He showed that ultimately on the cross.
So, look forward to Easter but do some self-reflection now. I know it’s hard, but I believe you can do it and I believe more in the transformation that God will do through it.