I’ve never given up anything for the Lenten Season…I’m not sure why. Maybe because I haven’t fully embraced the mission of its purpose. And I should. I know I should. But I think much of what people give up for God, is in some way, not enough. Maybe I have always believed there is nothing I could possibly give up for God that would be enough. There’s no sacrifice big enough to cover the grace He pours onto me. If I were to try, I am destined to fail.
I realize now, that this very thought is what I should ultimately surrender in my Lenten Sacrifice.
I will give up the lies.
The lies I keep believing over and over again…
Lies.
If we are to give something up that will ultimately draw us closer to Christ, then the negative thoughts that steer me away from my God are what I choose to sacrifice. They have become habits of harsh words that dismiss His love and build barriers that shadow His light.
I can’t think of anything more damaging to my relationship with Jesus. I can’t think of anything more potent than the power of shame. He gave His life for me and I will give my life back to Him and speak truth over those lies.
I will let go of every shame-filled thought, every cruel condemnation, every vicious opinion…
Every word that goes against what God declares is true- for they are all lies.
The lies that keep us from God seep into our thoughts like a rusty pipe draining fermented stinky sewage…drop by drop, it saturates our hearts and severs the heavenly tie that bonds the Almighty with the fallen. The enemy is victorious in his fight over and over again.
Because we believe the lies satan sells.
What are yours?
“I’m not suitable for church.”
“Christian people are so pushy and judgmental, their God must be too.”
“I just don’t deserve God’s Love.”
“I am so far gone, God can’t save me from this mess.”
“I’m too angry, too hurt and God doesn’t understand.”
“Another fail, how dare I ask for His Grace again?”
“If all these bad things happen to me, there must not be a loving God.”
“I hate where I’m at right now in my life, so why reach out to God?”
“God hasn’t answered my prayers, He just doesn’t care.”
“How can God love someone like me?”
“I’ll never be able to fit into those Christian circles.”
“God isn’t for me, because there is no way I can meet all His requirements.”
“I’d rather do something tangible than pray to a silent God.”
“I’ll never pray because I see so many people who do and their lives still suck.”
“That church is full of some rude people, I’ve decided it’s not worth going.”
“The Bible seems so hard to understand, so why even try to read it?”
“There is NO WAY I could ever be a good Christian. I am not at all like them.”
And God’s heart is broken.
Because His Truth gets buried in such deception.
And His Love is churned into lawful condition.
But oh, friends.
His truth is this:
Our God does not hand-pick people to pour out His grace- He chooses us ALL. Every single human being is LOVED by our Almighty Creator. God wants nothing more than to wrap His merciful and loving arms around us and scoop us into His Kingdom.
He wants the very best for you and your life and He knows you better than you know yourself. People are all flawed, but God is not. And in His merciful way, He gives us our will: We can step toward Him or walk away.
I pray you chose HIM today.
No matter our flaws, our shame, and our messy, sin-soaked lives… He died for us anyway.
He’s reaching for you now.
So…
What will you do?
Believe the lies or trust His Truth? Stay in the darkness or step into His light? Turn away from His love or fall right into it?
I can’t help but wonder how many times God has reached out for each one of us…
Only to be denied by lies…
What lies do you believe? Will you give them up too?
I hope and pray that you do.
Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ John 1:3-5
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. ~ Psalm 86:15
Iseeya. I’ll try. And thanks for writing this.
Thank YOU, for having an open heart- for reading this- and for trying. Love you deeply and always, lovely. XOXO
My dear blue-gum-chewing, Tigger-wearing darling, it is ridonkulous oclock and I can barely type cos I’m a dumbass and still up, but GLAD I read this now. And will read it again when I am awakerer *MWAH*
Get your cute tigger-lovin’ gum chewing butt to BED NOW!!!! MWUAH!
Yes ma’am 🙂
Love this and will totally join you, because too often I say a lot of the same to myself about God and my own faith. I will seriously try to tell myself now that I am good enough for God and his kingdom. Thank you, because I always struggle with what to give up during this time of the year and you are right this truly is something I do also. Thanks Chris 🙂
Oh Janine! I love that we are so much alike in this this!! I do hope you can believe the TRUTH. We must fight back those lies… and realize God loves us exactly where we are, and He will take us exactly where we need to BE.
Thanks so much sweet friend- such a thought-full comment. Just beautiful…
I am with you, Chris. I am so with you!
GOOD Jen!!!! I’m SO glad you are with me in this….
You focus on the TRUTH each and every day you venture to a new land and take in a culture and experience that is so beyond your life here. God will honor that. He will strengthen and empower you to triumph in this mission.
Love it my dear friend! Anything that prevents us from moving closer to the roots of God’s truth, mercy and grace and keeping us there is worth giving up….for good. Another beautiful insight we can all relate to, Chris!
We have to actively CLAIM it as LIES and re-claim CHRIST’S love for us. I think so many of us have these thought habits that have become a pattern that Satan has gladly run with….
Pulling us farther and farther away from the One and Only.
I’m with you. So much.
I don’t do Lent, as you know, but one of my favorite blogs (Day With Kim) was saying about how it’s just good to let go of things periodically anyway, no matter what you believe.
This is a lot of excess..junk..that I could stand to give up!
I think most of the ‘junk’ comes from within…. ya know? I believe THAT is where we all need to start. The rest will follow… 🙂
i’ve been reading a lot of posts lately about what bloggers are giving up for lent, which is fine, but i wonder if people understand the lenten season isn’t just about “giving up something.” it’s about becoming a better person, to follow jesus’s path and become more like him. that doesn’t necessarily mean giving up something, it can very well be “doing something.” i love what you have here on giving up the lies. God is so great, he is not focusing on our weaknesses.
Good point, Chris. When we give up something for Lent, the idea is to make time/space/energy to do something else to bring us closer to Jesus. When we give up the lies Satan tells us, it makes room for us to embrace the truth that is God’s healing grace. Great post, Chris!
EXACTLY Katie!!!! The barrier is the strongest and most powerful tool Satan can use- our weaknesses. When we focus on those- they lead us away from God. When we focus on the grace poured onto those weaknesses, we lean in toward God.
It’s time to let go of those barriers and lean in… and soak up His Grace. 🙂
YES Catherine! I love what you shared- and I too, believe the mission of Lent is doing something to draw us closer to God. What pulls us all away most, isn’t the actions but what is within us all- those ideas and critical judgements that turn us away from Christ’s Love instead of toward it.
If we begin THERE, change will happen. We can draw near to the One who loves us most, despite our weaknesses/failures etc.
It’s all about that indeed. 🙂
Great post – I like this and think it will be even harder than my idea to give up my happy hour drinks!!!
I hope you know that you are very worthy!!!!
I think God wants our heart more than any other sacrifice.
Amen?
Drinks or no drinks. 😉
I’ve never given up anything for Lent, either. I’m not sure I fully embrace the concept and at least in my area (which is predominantly Catholic) it seems very tied to specific religions and not others. I’m with you though, I can give up the lies…and not just for Lent. 🙂
AMEN TO THAT Angela!!!! Lent is surely just the beginning of this constant journey TOWARD God, not AWAY from Him.
What stands between us is really our hearts.
God is simply waiting with open arms- to love ALL of us exactly where we are.
There has been nothing I have wanted to give up this year.
And although in principle I liked the idea of taking up something spiritually edifying, I need to care enough to make it happen. And at the moment I’m all out.
Though perhaps, although there are still things I am determinedly unrepentant about, and unprepared to quit, and also I’m still not certain I *want* to have faith (it’s proving an inconvenient set of Truths at the moment), I still can’t quite quit it.
And so maybe the thing for me this lent is not ‘giving up’, but ‘not giving up’. Because I think I just had a conversation earlier where, for now, I’m re-committing to work on my marriage, even though I’m so tired, and done in, and had enough. And don’t know how I’m going to, or where I’ll find the energy.
Maybe this.
Mustard seed, my love.
He do Great Things with your precious wavering mustard seed.
He knows.
He will pour His Grace and Love on whatever little you can give Him. And He will wait patiently for the rest…
BUT- the more you give Him, the more He has to work with. The more He can strengthen you to persevere, the more He will lift you and guide you through the dirt to find clear and clean ground. Whatever you can offer to Him, He will inevitably bless. That’s His Promise. That’s His Truth.
Believe it, with what little you have to believe.
Oh but the hesitation. Offered him my hopes. My babies. And he took them.
I know…. I know… Oh sweet love, I know.
It’s a work that continues long after Lent, but this is a good time to tackle it, Chris. Those lies have tentacles that reach deep into our souls and mar our minds and hearts. Good thing that God’s in the reconstruction business! He’ll bring beauty out of our ashes and replace the lies with Truth Himself, Jesus!
If we let Him, Alison. If we let Him.
THAT is the key.
🙂
Lent is always a good time to start the process to becoming a better person, and I believe that embodies the true meaning. That is something I am working on but I don’t think it’s giving up one thing by itself that will make it happen. I love how you bring things into focus, Chris.
I think about your church attendance and the ‘thoughts’ behind that… and I am sure there are some truths you need to instill in your heart and meet God personally right THERE. As you are- in your place…
God wants your heart, more than your attendance. He doesn’t measure His Children’s love by that- He qualifies it only through Christ. It’s a personal quest- between you and God. NOT you and the church.
Thanks Chris…I love your post.
I am giving up “crankiness”. My husband fully supports that. Although yesterday I had a little trouble when a past offense by another (not my husband) came to mind (one I thought I had forgiven guess I hadn’t forgotten) Then I clarified my “crankiness fast” and said it was a letting go of crankiness toward him (needed to scale back a bit) . He said it was good to find another way to measure my success since day 7 of my fast I was already having trouble. BTW sharing your post over at our team page http://www.facebook.com/Corinthians13Parenting
HA!!!! That is hilarious Lori!!! Well, lets go with this-
God honors our HEART and INTENTION to draw closer to Him. He isn’t about the pressure to SCORE SUCCESS in our journey, rather grow us from the inside out gradually shaping who we are in Christ bit by agonizing bit. 🙂
It’s a long long process, and Lord KNOWS we ain’t gonna EVER be perfect!!!
Oh wow. Chris, I love this. I usually try to participate in Lent but I’ve never thought of giving up the lies we tell ourself. That we are not good enough. When really, we are ENOUGH. God wants us and loves us just the way we are. It reminds me of something our minister said this week. (I’m paraphrasing here:) We are enough and we bring God whatever we have….and it’s because God loves us so deeply that he won’t allow us to just stop there. He wants it all.
That rings true w/ what you are saying. God wants us to bring those untruths we tell ourselves b/c he can turn them around.
Blessings friend.
YES!!! I love that, Stephanie!! It’s SO TRUE. Why on earth did He send His Son in the first place? Because He loved us RIGHT where we were…
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He already made the choice, we just keep ‘re-nigging’ on His Love. Can you imagine how frustrating and SAD that must make our Almighty?? Satan has a pretty smart idea how to keep us from His Love… 🙁
Beautiful post my friend. I think for this season I will choose to focus my energy and attention on ways to be healthier…both literally and figuratively. For myself and my family. Giving up the lie that I am already good enough, when really I can be better. Love this.-Ashley
Well there’s a good TWIST Ashley!!! lol
Good for YOU, for perhaps throwing out those lies/excuses. And maybe you could simply add ADD something that would draw you nearer to God, in order to gain strength and empowerment in that pursuit? Prayer is always a nice pipeline to gaining those things. Give Him your goals, and He will gladly help you along, my friend. Right? 😉
Just a thought! Mwuah!
This is so beautiful. I’m glad you are giving up the lies. That is a huge task to undertake, but I know with His help, you can do it!
I think the first step in this process is CLAIMING those judgmental and critical thoughts as LIES. The power of Satan immediately crumbles….
SO glad you stopped by Tracie! 🙂
Love this! When I took this part time job at my church one of my biggest hesitations was ” I don’t know enough about the Bible. I don’t have formal theological training, so how can I teach others?” I am beginning to realize it’s not so much about that as it is about trying and loving and doing my best – whatever that is.
Oh Lisa- I seriously wonder how many people would be serving more and stepping into leadership roles, if they would stop believing the lies!!! I know far too many people that feel ‘unworthy’ of such things…
I bet it breaks God’s heart.
He can use ANYONE for His Glory. 🙂
I’m giving up negativity for Lent but I think that parlays quite well to the lies… such a good way to look at things.
I do think they go hand in hand, don’t they Kate?!! Good for YOU, my friend!!! Stay the course- but DON’T beat yourself up with more negativity if you don’t do it perfectly. Promise? 😉
I loved this! I’ve tried giving up swearing. But I failed almost immediately. I feel as if I’ve lost all will. And I had so much of it. This goes for food, gossiping (which is awful), and talking my body down – my favorite.
I think Lent, for us is akin to the New Year. We make all of these bold, severe promises to ourselves and others and end up failing in secret after a few days (hours?!). We should, I should just try to tighten up those areas where I’ve slipped. Not believing the lies is a great place to start.
Oh girl- you are NOT alone!!! I think what matters most to God is the heart behind our intent…
We are GOING to fail. But knowing and believing that He loves us anyway- I believe THAT is the truth we often ignore. 🙂
Your words are so true even for those of us who don’t celebrate Lent. For anyone who wants to have a relationship with God – we do need to stop thwarting that relationship with thoughts that we are not good enough. We are ALL good enough, because we are human.
AMEN to THAT Dana!!! We are worthy of God’s Love- no matter where we are, who we are and the choices we make. 🙂
I’ve never been a “give it up for Lent” girl either. I usually try to DO something instead.
I love your post — so easy to get bogged down in the lies that keep us from becoming better.
I have hooked into every lie you have mentioned here at different times. It seems when I am moving, doing things for God, and showing His ways to others that the lies come harder and faster! It is a constant battle, and I must remember that I do not have to fight it on my own, which I tend to do. But just call on His name.
OH yes Lynn… Satan just loves to attack us when we are growing in our faith and using our voices for His Kingdom! I understand your plight with the battles and fighting it on your own… we have to rely on Him. I constantly need that reminder too!
Hi Chris! You make a very good list of lies. And at one time or another, I have believed every single darn one of them. Even though I know they aren’t true at all. That Satan is a wily one, always looking for ways to wriggle in and make me feel ‘less than’.
This is an awesome Lenten plan, one of the best I’ve heard. You go girl! And thank you for reminding us all of how precious we truly are.
Blessings,
Ceil
Ceil, I hear ya. I just hope and pray people read this and realize His love stretches beyond our failings, and reaches anyone who asks for it. At least I KNOW the truth. I can keep fighting my lies with that. I want all to know the Truth. I know you do too, my friend. <3
This is the best lent sacrifice idea I’ve ever heard of.
Thank you, love bug. I feel the same way- and work on it every year, every day… sometimes every minute. <3
This is a very timely piece…simple but eye-opener for all who believe in God’s word…I will apply this now…give up the lies and believe in God’s mercy and love for each of us!!!
YES, Lynne! I pray we can all do just that. It’s a daunting task, really. I find many of the lies, are hard to give up. I sometimes need to offer them back up to Him over and over again… <3