Looking forward to Lent- a time for detox?
Jane Shilling writes today in The Telegraph "Forget all the others, Lent is the one true detox" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/26/forget-others-lent-one-true-detox/
Often we use Lent as a time to recall those failed New Year Resolutions, and try again to "be good" for at least 40 days. While it can never be a bad idea to detox our bodies, by giving up chocolate or alcohol, or maybe detox our digital footprint by abstaining from facebook, can we use the 40 days of Lent this year to ask some deeper questions- What does it really mean to "be good"? Who decides what is good and what is not?
Paul write in Philippians 4:8, 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.'
This Lent, I want to spend some time thinking about these things. They are sometimes called virtues, or maybe character, so I'm asking God to help me cultivate character. I want to find out from God's word what Christian character looks like, and read the stories of some of God's people who have tried (and sometimes failed) to behave in a way that shows that character. Sometimes we think that when Jesus came, it was because God had changed His mind and wanted to start again with new ideas about how we were to behave, so I want to look at both Old and New Testament ideas about character to see if they are consistent or whether expectations of character change with context. And as we approach Easter, it is with the realisation that we can't cultivate anything much by ourselves, but we need the same power that was demonstrated in the resurrection to bring new life to our souls too.
Often we use Lent as a time to recall those failed New Year Resolutions, and try again to "be good" for at least 40 days. While it can never be a bad idea to detox our bodies, by giving up chocolate or alcohol, or maybe detox our digital footprint by abstaining from facebook, can we use the 40 days of Lent this year to ask some deeper questions- What does it really mean to "be good"? Who decides what is good and what is not?
Paul write in Philippians 4:8, 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.'
This Lent, I want to spend some time thinking about these things. They are sometimes called virtues, or maybe character, so I'm asking God to help me cultivate character. I want to find out from God's word what Christian character looks like, and read the stories of some of God's people who have tried (and sometimes failed) to behave in a way that shows that character. Sometimes we think that when Jesus came, it was because God had changed His mind and wanted to start again with new ideas about how we were to behave, so I want to look at both Old and New Testament ideas about character to see if they are consistent or whether expectations of character change with context. And as we approach Easter, it is with the realisation that we can't cultivate anything much by ourselves, but we need the same power that was demonstrated in the resurrection to bring new life to our souls too.
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