-Lent prepares the believer to participate in activities such as prayer, alms-giving, tithing, and repentance.
-Some believers do a daily Lenten devotional
-I did find this statement on Wikipedia: "In modern times, observers give up an action of theirs considered to be a vice, add something that is considered to be able to bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations" (para 18).
The third bullet point relates to my purpose because I am giving up something that is a vice to me: too many clothes; growing closer to God through this blog; and I am giving the clothes/shoes I am donating to those in need. But, the part that stuck out to me was the first bullet point--Lent prepares the believer to participate in activities such as repentance.
And then I realized where I needed to repent: GREEDINESS. Sometimes when I go shopping, I buy an article of clothing because it's cute or it's a good deal, but I don't necessarily buy clothing because I need it. I usually buy clothing because I want it. The definition of greed is the selfish desire for something. I would say that I am selfish in the way that I get too greedy when it comes to clothes and shoes when I know I don't need it. I get caught up in justifying the spending by telling myself that I only do it once in awhile or that I don't have any of the new fashions. When in reality, neither of these can justify the need to own more clothes than I could wear in a month.
I am not saying that I will never buy new things, but I should only buy new things if I need it. If I do feel like I need to spend money on clothes, then I should buy clothes for people that actually need it, or I should spend the money towards church.
In the end, I will ask God for forgiveness and ask him to guide me in my purchases in the future. And hopefully by giving up more of "things", I will learn to give up more of myself and put God first. So today I gave up two pieces of clothing: a striped t-shirt and a green sweater because I do not NEED either of these.
The third bullet point relates to my purpose because I am giving up something that is a vice to me: too many clothes; growing closer to God through this blog; and I am giving the clothes/shoes I am donating to those in need. But, the part that stuck out to me was the first bullet point--Lent prepares the believer to participate in activities such as repentance.
And then I realized where I needed to repent: GREEDINESS. Sometimes when I go shopping, I buy an article of clothing because it's cute or it's a good deal, but I don't necessarily buy clothing because I need it. I usually buy clothing because I want it. The definition of greed is the selfish desire for something. I would say that I am selfish in the way that I get too greedy when it comes to clothes and shoes when I know I don't need it. I get caught up in justifying the spending by telling myself that I only do it once in awhile or that I don't have any of the new fashions. When in reality, neither of these can justify the need to own more clothes than I could wear in a month.
I am not saying that I will never buy new things, but I should only buy new things if I need it. If I do feel like I need to spend money on clothes, then I should buy clothes for people that actually need it, or I should spend the money towards church.
In the end, I will ask God for forgiveness and ask him to guide me in my purchases in the future. And hopefully by giving up more of "things", I will learn to give up more of myself and put God first. So today I gave up two pieces of clothing: a striped t-shirt and a green sweater because I do not NEED either of these.
Works Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent
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