4 Things We Should NOT Give Up for Lent
- Jennifer Heeren Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
- Updated Feb 16, 2023
Jesus said through the prophet Joel, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” (Joel 2:12 NLT)
The most important part of fasting is to turn to the Lord and away from your own wrong thinking and sin. When you do, you will realize that He is more than willing to treat you with mercy and compassion. And isn’t that what we all need? Mercy and compassion.
When Jesus was teaching about how to live a faith-filled life, He said, “When you pray…” and then went on to tell us what our mindset should be when we pray. He didn’t say, “If you pray…”. He knew that prayer would be the backbone of our faith in God. Similarly, Jesus also said, “When you fast…” and then mentioned some parameters for undertaking a fast. Again, He didn’t say, “If you fast…”. Both fasting and prayer are monumental to the Christian life.
Why? Because both of those things build your relationship with God. And that is the main thing God wants from you—a relationship with Him. He loves you and wants to spend time with you. Don’t fast as a way to get God’s attention. Salvation is by grace alone, not by any works we attempt to do, including fasting. Fast so you can give your full attention to God. What He wants for you is more important than what you think you want.
People a long time ago would fast for many wrong reasons (see Isaiah 58:1-5 NLT). They would announce their fast so that other people would look up to them. They would pretend to be righteous and take pride in any facts they learned about God, but their hearts were far from Him. They fasted to please themselves, not God. They fasted and yet still oppressed people around them. They fasted but still fought and quarreled with others. They didn’t let their fast lead them to love God more, and they didn’t try to love other people. Therefore, they did not please the Lord even though they fasted. As the Lenten season approaches and many ponder what they should choose to fast from during this time, here are a few things we should NOT give up:
Things That We Should NOT Give Up for Lent (Or Any Fast)
1. Food in order to lose weight. You might decide to give up some kind of food, but if your primary reason is to lose weight, that shouldn’t be what you fast, even though it is a good thing to lose weight and gain health. A fast is not a diet. A fast’s purpose should be to rely on God more and our flesh less.
2. Anything when your motive is to brag. If you want to give up something so that other people will hear of your quest and feel you’re strong, disciplined, or special, you need to stop the fast immediately. When you fast, don’t look somber and speak about all of the things you’re giving up (Matthew 6:16 NIV). Instead, you should keep a peaceful demeanor while remembering that your fast is between you and the Father only (Matthew 6:17-18 NIV). Other people don’t need to know about it unless telling them will bring glory to God in some way.
3. Reading your Bible. As a Christian, you probably wouldn’t purposely give up reading your Bible. But sometimes, we can get so busy with life’s tasks that we forget. When you fast anything, you should read your Bible even more during that time period. The more you cling to God and His Word, the easier it is to give up something else you’re relying on to get through life. Remember that the Lord is your strength, and He will give you victory (Psalm 118:14 NLT), and His Word is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12 NLT).
4. Prayer. When you’re fasting something in order to grow closer to God, you want to pray even more than usual. Pray while you read your Bible. Pray whenever you’re missing the thing that you’re trying to fast. If weather permits, take prayer walks as often as possible. The combination of walking, praying, and being outside in nature can usually change your perspective.
The Purpose of a Fast
So, if you decide to give up something for Lent or any fast at any time of the year, you should fast things that are getting in the way of your relationship with God. It could be a vice that you haven’t been able to shake, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. It could be a type of food that you are addicted to, like caffeine, sugar, salt, etc. You can also give up things that take up too much of your precious time, like television, social media, etc. Fasting one of these things can help you to rely on God’s healing and provision. You want to see God as bigger and more powerful than anything that has a hold over you.
A fast should change you and your thinking. It shouldn’t be done for vain reasons. It should be done with the motivation of turning toward God and turning away from your sin and pride. When your motives are right, you will realize that the Lord is always ready to give you mercy and compassion.
When you decide to do a fast, you should attempt to go through the whole time, staying away from the thing you are fasting from. Your desire should be to exercise your God-given ability to have self-control. But what if you mess up during your fast? What if you do the thing you’re fasting from? You can simply repent and continue onward with your fast. Don’t beat yourself up. Mistakes can give glory to God, too, when you repent from them. Remember that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He didn’t wait for us to get our act together and do everything perfectly.
No matter what you decide to fast from, I pray that you wake up on Resurrection Sunday morning knowing that your God will supply your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
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