Last updated: March 11, 2026
What to Give Up for Lent: A Christian Guide to Spiritual Discipline and Renewal - Practical faith lessons on replacing negative habits with Christ-centred living during the Lenten season
What to Give up for Lent by Rev. Craig Gates, Jackson, MS,
GIVE UP grumbling! Instead, “In everything, give thanks.” Constructive criticism is OK, but “moaning, groaning, and complaining” are not Christian disciplines.
GIVE UP 10 to 15 minutes in bed! Instead, use that time in prayer, Bible study, and personal devotion.
GIVE UP looking at other people’s worst points. Instead, concentrate on their best points. We all have faults. It is a lot easier to have people overlook our shortcomings when we overlook theirs first.
GIVE UP speaking unkindly. Instead, let your speech be generous and understanding. It costs so little to say something kind and uplifting. Why not check that sharp tongue at the door?
GIVE UP your hatred of anyone or anything! Instead, learn the discipline of love. “Love covers a multitude of sins.”
GIVE UP your worries and anxieties! Instead, trust God with them. Anxiety is spending emotional energy on something we can do nothing about, like tomorrow! Live today and let God’s grace be sufficient.
GIVE UP TV one evening a week! Instead, visit some lonely or sick person. There are those who are isolated by illness or age. Why isolate yourself in front of the “tube?” Give someone a precious gift: your time!
GIVE UP buying anything but essentials for yourself! Instead, give the money to God. The money you would spend on luxuries could help someone meet basic needs. We are called to be stewards of God’s riches, not consumers.
GIVE UP judging by appearances and by the standard of the world! Instead, learn to give up yourself to God. There is only one who has the right to judge: Jesus Christ.
Meditation: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14
Jesus Loves You!
Also read:
- What a Difference Light Makes: A Stained Glass Devotional Lesson
- Understanding God: He Does Not Condone Nonsense
- Men in the Bible: An Impetuous and Impudent Man
- The Constants and Variables of Success (2): The Biblical Path to Prosperity
- Unhealthy Competition: Why God Calls Us to Run Our Own Race
- From Religion to Relationship: A Powerful Testimony of Returning to God
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