Why I Love Lent and Think You Should Too

Today is Ash Wednesday, where we remind ourselves of our mortality, “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return,” and is the beginning of Lent–the 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter in which Christians all over the world throughout history have taken time to focus on the sacrifice of Jesus.

I love Lent.

It seems odd to love Lent since it is often looked at as a morose, gloomy period in the church calendar. Lent is intended to make anyone’s life miserable, which is a common posture towards it. But I love it for multiple reasons:

1. When else do we have a time of the year where our sole focus is to look inward at ourselves, rid ourselves of sinfulness, and focus on the sacrifice of Jesus? Some will say, “Well, we should always do that.” I would respond– yes, we should; however, within the busyness of life, we often don’t take time to focus. So, Lent reorients our thoughts towards that.
2. Lent (and the church calendar in general) also structures our lives around what’s really important. Our cultural calendar is structured around wars and consumerism, but the church calendar is structured around Christ and his church. We don’t often think about it like this, but what’s more important for the life of a Christian–buying stuff or Christ? It should be an easy answer.
3. Lent involves fasting, and we can use it to benefit our lives in the future. I don’t often think about how much coffee I drink, but, during Lents of the past, I have stopped drinking coffee. Last year, I did this, and I realized before Lent I was drinking 4-5 cups a day! Now, a year later, I’m down to 1-2 a day. I didn’t realize how bound I was to coffee, but Lent made me realize that coffee was borderline idolatrous in my life. You may choose to give up something else other than coffee, but I encourage to give up something. It’s like tithing–you don’t need to give up something huge but give up something where it will “pinch.” Some are even fasting from Facebook.
4. Lent involves replace  insignificant things with more important things into our lives. Colossians 3 reminds us to be focused on the “things above” not earthly things. Lent helps us do this. This year, I will be replacing my morning TV (e.g., SportsCenter) with prayer and Scripture reading. Sometimes, SportsCenter gets in the way of my focus on the “things above” so I replacing it with what’s more important.

I love Lent, and I think you should too! I encourage to try it this year. Take it slow. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. You don’t need to walk around in sackcloth and ashes every day but do something. Reorient your thoughts on Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the whole world.

FAQ’s:

• Isn’t Lent “Catholic?” Yes and no. Catholics sure do it but so do Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc.
• What should I do for Lent? Remove and replace one thing. Find one thing in your life that is getting in the way of God and others, remove it, and replace it with something spiritual like Scripture reading, prayer, more time with family, etc.
• What Scripture should I meditate on? Colossians 3:1-17 is a good text to begin with, and then this Sunday you could switch it up to the lectionary readings or some other meditations.