Self-Denial & Fasting, Spiritual Discipline Worth the Work - Tammy Wendling

As I sit here contemplating Lent and the spiritual discipline of self-denial and fasting, I'm in my make-shift home office (you know, CoVid). This space was, not so long ago, my youngest daughter's bedroom. The last renovation we did in this space was when one child moved out and an older sister moved to a room of her own. To make both of their bedrooms new and unique, we decided to paint - easy, quick fix, and the kids would be happy and set for the duration. Since it had been a while since we had painted anything, I checked the internet for suggested steps to prepare these rooms to be painted. Good grief, what an ordeal this was going to be! I wanted a simple fix and to move on. I took the "must do" steps, paired it back, kept it simple, and everything seemed fine. Except, looking at it now, the quick fix doesn't look so great. There are specks of paint on the ceiling, and a couple of places are even peeling up a bit. I guess the "ordeal" of more extended preparation and more involved steps had value and merit after all.

It occurs to me our spiritual lives are often like the decision and quest for a quick fix. Each new year, each Lenten season, we make well-intended plans and start reading the Bible more often, attending worship regularly, offering kindness to those that cross our paths, etc. Even with the best intentions, often these devoted efforts only work for a short time, and we fall back into old patterns. Like this peeling paint in my daughter's bedroom, it works great for a bit, but now we're back in the same place, needing to paint again. Perhaps doing the necessary and recommended prep work in our spiritual lives would also produce better results.

We consider what it means to put ourselves and our wants/needs last during this focused week of self-denial and fasting. Well, that's a cultural novelty today - putting ourselves last… We often consider fasting as a time to deny ourselves one food or another. It's so much more and includes any particular activity in our lives that has come to mean more than it should (electronics, hobbies, eating, work, etc.). The goal of fasting and self-denial is to connect our physical self to the spiritual. It means we learn to give our spiritual life prominence each day rather than the physical. It means we devote our whole spiritual attention to God. In doing this, we re-center ourselves with God and less with the messes and materialism of the world. We prepare to live fully with Him forever - not temporarily (like this paint job gone wrong).

We're moving through this season of Lent in self-reflection, repentance, and hope. As we set our eyes on Easter, let's embrace the "ordeal" and do the work to get our spiritual lives in order.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"

Matthew 16:24