Giving it to God: Giving up Sugar for Lent

        I am completely addicted to sugar. A couple weeks ago I ate half a box of thin mints one day and the next ate three ice cream bars. Things were getting out of hand. So I decided to go on a “natural food” diet. I would eat only whole grains, fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy and quality oils. No refined sugar or flour. I have been doing… not that great. Most of my day I do just fine but then I get a bad craving and twice it has ended in a very big splurge. I just don’t have the willpower. So I have decided that I will give up sugar as an offering to God for lent. He will be my accountability partner. You see, I don’t have a problem breaking promises I make to myself, but I don’t dare break a promise to God.

         

         For those of you who don’t know what Lent is, it is a time during which some denominations of Christianity will “give up” a certain food or behavior in self-denial in order to prepare their hearts for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (March 8^th this year) and lasts forty days through Easter Sunday. The Bible tells us that Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying before he began his ministry. We emulate this during lent as a memorial of what Christ has done for us. Giving up sugar for Lent will remind me every time that I crave it (so about every hour or so for me) that Jesus died for my sins and I will practice dying to myself, my human desires, at least in this one area. Every time I want sugar I will thank God for the free gift of eternal life through belief in Christ Jesus and deny myself. Who’s with me? What will you be giving up? We might even lose a few pounds in the process, especially if we dance before the Lord in worship.

          Some might say that this is more about diet than worship, but it is all about your mindset. If you renew your mind with every temptation to remember the true purpose of your self-denial it can be an incredible time of closeness with God. Plus, there are biblical reasons to take good care of your body. Our bodies are the present day tabernacle, dwelling place of the Most High God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 (New King James Version) says “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” So when we take care of our bodies by giving them nourishing food and exercise, we can choose to be obsessed with our appearances and what other people think of us. We can constantly think about what we should and shouldn’t eat and whether we are thin enough or pretty enough. Or we can let care of our bodies be an act of worship, our duty as priests in the Lord’s temple. Romans 12:1 ^"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." 

          Who will join me in this act of worship, our reasonable service to our creator, sustainer, and savior?

p.s. Sorry about the different font types. I can't figure out how to fix it! I am so technologically challenged!