Lent is a season of prayer, fasting and charity that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.
During Lent, Christians give up something as a fast and on Fridays, they don’t eat meat. This is a form of self-denial that represents the sacrifice of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Growing up Catholic, I have always been familiar with Lent, but I only started to take it seriously last year. Since then, I’ve had an interesting and troubling experience.
I tried to abstain from eating unhealthy foods but ended up breaking it in the middle of Lent. At that time, I was trying to lose weight and eat healthier, so I thought giving this up would be a good start.
It did not feel great that I broke this promise, but I tried not to be too hard on myself. Although I’ve already broken my Lenten promise this season, I look forward to trying again next year.
It can be hard to abstain, but that’s the point of Lent; fighting the temptation of giving in to something you promised yourself you were gonna give up.
When the tradition of Lent first originated, Jesus Christ was stuck in the wilderness for 40 days with no food or water. Satan offered to turn stones into bread so that Jesus could eat, but he refused the temptation.
While not everything that people give up for Lent is necessarily sinful, the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil during his fast is an example of how Lent can be difficult to practice.
This is because you can get back into what you gave up on, but you decide not to because it was a sacrifice you made to be closer to Jesus.
I was hanging out with some friends once at a restaurant after going to the movie theater and reminded myself that I could not eat meat because it was Lent.
Instead of a regular hamburger, I got a veggie burger. Compared to others, this might have not been a big sacrifice, but it is an example of a personal sacrifice that I felt helped me get closer to Jesus.
In a blog post by Rosalind Jukić, an Evangelical Christian woman, she explains why she doesn’t observe Lent. She said that she lives before God daily and doesn’t focus on her past sins as God isn’t impressed with self-denial.
I disagree with this. Jukić’s logic as to why she didn’t practice Lent bothered me, especially because in the same blog post she states how Lent is an important time in Christianity.
Of course, Lent is about Christ. It is rooted in Christ resembling his sacrifice in the desert and on the cross. The point of Christianity is to deny your desires before God and the point of Lent is to sacrifice something to further instill those values.
If you are a Christian and have not participated in Lent yet, I suggest that you give it a try. See how it feels to give up something you love for 40 days.
It will all be worth it in the end, especially because you successfully gave something up, followed Jesus and fought against temptation.