Lent is a season in the church calendar where many choose intentional spiritual practices to help them center on Jesus. This often includes letting go of something (fasting) and taking up something (a spiritual practice).

Lent 2024 starts on Ash Wednesday which is February 14th and ends on Easter Sunday – March 31st.

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our human mortality – our need for Jesus as our savior to reconcile us to God. It’s important that this is how we start the season of lent – because it reminds us that we are not engaging in spiritual practices to earn God’s love, but because of God’s love. It’s only by receiving God’s grace that we can step into practices with joy and not obligation.

You can think of three areas of your life:

Time (give up, take up) – What will you give up doing, what will you take up to replace that time? Example: social media replaced with memorizing a psalm

Volume (turn down, turn up) – What could you turn the volume down one, and turn up the volume in another way? Example: Replace news show with time to listen to God’s voice, or worship music.

Stuff/Food (let go, pick up) – What do you not need, or food you will not eat and what might you replace that with? Example: Not eating desserts, every time you think of eating them, you pray about a kingdom desire.

To join participate in the lenten season, choose at least one thing to give up, and at least one thing to take up – follow links for resources:

Give up (fasting from):