What Lent Has To Do With Love

Coincidentally, Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine’s Day this year. Not familiar with Ash Wednesday or Lent?

The season of Lent, which refers to the period of time in the liturgical church calendar from Ash Wednesday to Easter, is an opportunity to loosen our grasp on the things of this world and strengthen our grip on the anchor of our soul.

Whether a lover of dark chocolate or not, many are perplexed on how to celebrate the religious holiday this year. Admittedly Lent threatens to be a killjoy, but perhaps the marriage of the two presents a timely opportunity for us to assess what our hearts love most.

Maybe this is the year we view the season of Lent less as a religious to-do list, and more of an invitation to re-center our souls, fix our eyes, and strengthen our stride as we seek to be an apostle of Christ. The means of accepting this weighty invitation is not simply fasting from sugar or social media for forty days, but engaging at a deeper level with confession, repentance, and obedience.

Along the way, we might even discover how much lent has to do with love.

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Confession

Confession, in its purest form, is acknowledgement of where we seek to substitute what only God can provide. It is a naming of our idols—that which we love more than God or the things our hearts have sought in order to satisfy.

What would life look like for you, over the next forty days, if you took the time to confess and name that which so easily serves as a god in your life? Perhaps Lent is the time to break free, once and for all, as you starve the areas in your life that keep you enslaved to feeding it over and over again.

Fill in the blank, then join me in prayer.

“I cannot serve God and ________________.”

God, I pray that you would use the upcoming weeks to reveal to me where I am filling up with the lesser things of this world, and in their place fill me up with more of you, your truth, your Spirit, and your love. Help me to believe it’s worth it. Amen.

Repentance

Repentance involves more than saying sorry or feeling regret. It is lamenting our disordered loves, feeling the weight of our need for a Savior, so that we can surrender and embrace the fullness of Christ’s love for us.

I love thinking of repentance as the pathway from feeling to action as our hearts turn away from idols and toward the One worthy of our love. My favorite prayer to usher my heart into confession and repentance is this verse from the Psalms.

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. (Psalm 119:37 ESV)

Oh, how I’m tempted to look to man’s praise, my own accomplishments, and earthly riches to sustain me. Repentance is the key that unlocks the door to our freedom, so perhaps this discipline can help us break free and discover the depths of God’s steadfast love for us.

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obedience

Repentance fuels our steps of obedience. As our idols are named, and gaze shifted, our steps can begin anew, no longer down the same path, but the one that leads to lasting joy and freedom. There is no set formula for faithful obedience, but I’ve found the discipline of fasting to help me know where to start.

If you are needing a starting place, ask:

What does obedience look like in this season as I fast to free my heart from the love of other things?

Might it look like:

• Fasting from certain social media accounts, because the images and words are captivating your heart more than you want them to right now?

• Fasting from speaking first, and instead listening more to honor others over yourself?

• Fasting from certain foods that represent a lack of self control in your life, and reminding yourself food is not a master of you?

• Fasting from grumbling and instead replacing those default emotions of doubt and worry with declarations of grace and gratitude?

• Fasting from self-preservation and engaging in community again, trusting God when He says it is for your good?

• Fasting from mindless spending to remind yourself that your money is a tool to use, not a master to serve?

As you can see, the season of Lent addresses our greatest loves at the core level, and invites us to return to our greatest Love—Christ. If we allow confession, repentance, and obedience to usher our hearts forward, then we are better able to see how God wants to show up and work in our lives for his glory, as well as our joy and freedom.

So, for Ash Wednesday to coincide with Valentine’s Day this year—well, I don’t know about you, but I think it seems just about right.