“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” Acts 2:44-46
Growing up Catholic, I understood the meaning of Lent. We practiced some of its tenets, including giving up something for the forty days leading up to Lent and abstaining from meat during Lent to better understand the sacrifice. However, when I began attending mainstream Protestant churches, the Lenten season was all but a thought. No church I attended practiced Lent. Most churches didn’t uphold it because it was more closely associated with the Catholic tradition.
However, observing Lent can be a marvelous tradition you can create with your family. In addition to the ways I mentioned above, there are many other ways to celebrate Lent. Families can practice Lent together, strengthening their cohesive bond and understanding of true sacrifice and unconditional love.
As a family, brainstorm some ways you can donate your time. You can volunteer at a food pantry or another community organization that helps people in need. Rearrange your schedule so that you have more time to practice meeting the needs of your community. Donate your clothes or food to those in need.
Discover ways your local church is also helping the community. You can go one step further and donate money to a national organization that helps spread the gospel worldwide. Each week, sacrifice a part of your monthly income and encourage your children to donate part of their allowance. Small sacrifices can help enhance your spiritual growth, even if the gift is small.
Because sacrifice can be difficult, especially for children, decide as a family something you may give up. For example, you may sacrifice watching a particular television program, limit the amount of television you watch, or give up television altogether. Decide what you will do with your extra time together. Filling the time with other activities, such as social media or screen-based activities, will be tempting. You can do many great things together if you have extra time in the evening. You can play board games, talk about your day, or even do activities together as a family.
Additionally, having that accountability of other family members all observing the same sacrifice will help you when times get tough. The first few days of any new habit can be difficult. The first few days you sacrifice television, social media, or dessert together may be challenging. You all may be tempted to give up altogether.
But committing together as a family increases your chances of following through and fulfilling your sacrificial promise. Not only will this help you grow in your spiritual journey, but it will leave a legacy of faith for your children. You may be surprised that your children may continue this tradition as adults.
Finally, increase your devotional time by buying a Lenten or other devotional that contains teachings about love, sacrifice, or Jesus. Dedicate some time throughout the day to read the devotion as a family. Take turns reading each paragraph of the devotion. Participate in any reflection questions or make up questions of your own. You may also want to increase your Bible knowledge by studying a book of the Bible. The book of Acts can be a great place to start for most of the Lenten season because it discusses the model of the first church.
Discuss the importance of the above verse together. How can you sacrifice your possessions or luxuries for someone else? Pray together as a family and identify any needs within your church body. If you are not aware of any needs, contact your pastor or other local leader and see if there are any. Seek as a family to meet those needs together.
Do what needs to be done to sacrifice time, money, resources, or assistance to help meet the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only will this help you live out the Acts model, but it will also help you better understand what sacrifice can look like in your daily life.
Although Lent is a specific 40 days, it leads to the celebration of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross. However, sacrifice is not something relegated to merely 40 days out of the year. By adopting these new ideas about sacrifice, you can be a family that sacrifices time, money, resources, and help every day of the year.
Father, help us understand true sacrifice. Bring people into our lives whom we can assist with our time, money, and resources. Let us be a family that rearranges our schedules to study your Word more deeply, sacrifice ourselves more readily, and become Christ-like. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
In what ways can you observe Lent based on the suggestions above?
What additional ways can you observe Lent outside of the above suggestions?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Jacob Wackerhausen
Michelle S. Lazurek is a multi-genre award-winning author, speaker, pastor’s wife, and mother. She is a literary agent for Wordwise Media Services and host of The Spritual Reset Podcast. Her new children’s book Hall of Faith encourages kids to understand God can be trusted. When not working, she enjoys sipping a Starbucks latte, collecting 80s memorabilia, and spending time with her family and her crazy dog. For more info, please visit her website www.michellelazurek.com.
We hope you and your spouse are challenged and encouraged by today’s devotional! For more of this premium marriage devotional, visit here.
