9 Things to ‘Give up’ During Lent

Posted on February 21, 2009 by theoldadam

“May God grant us the wisdom to know ourselves; the courage to admit our sins; and the grace to receive God’s never failing mercy and forgiveness.”

1) COMPLAINING  –  there is much to be thankful for.

2) WORRY – there are things to be concerned about, but nothing to worry about.

3) DISCOURAGEMENT – God is for you, not against you.

4) BITTERNESS – it’s like poisoning yourself. How smart is that?

5) HATRED – forgive and watch your future come alive!

6) GOSSIPING – speak well of your neighbor, you might just see him/her return the favor. 

7) BLAMING – be part of the solution, not the problem.

8) STAYING AWAY FROM CHURCH – provide your family with a firm foundation of faith, learn about the message of God’s love from the Bible and share problems, make friends, and be renewed in hope and thank God for another week of life. And it’s free!

…and the final thing to ‘Give Up’ during Lent? 

9) GIVING UP – hang in there!! Even with all it’s problems, life is a good and gracious gift!

    by Pastor Mark Anderson of Lutheran Church of the Master, Corona del Mar, CA    949 759-1031     Lutheran Church of the Master Corona del Mar, CA

Can you think of anything else to ‘Give Up’ during Lent?     

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17 Responses

  1. Ivy, on February 21, 2009 at 4:00 pm said:

    Hi Steve,

    I might change #9. Perhaps we should give up (at least doing things in our own strength) and give it all over to God. Just a thought. Blessings.

    Reply
  2. Roger Shuman, on February 21, 2009 at 6:06 pm said:

    I’m going to give up commenting on this blog for lent.

    🙂

    Ok, I feel weak already. I just know that I’m going to give in and comment.

    By the way, I’ve been out of town for a week and I’m just now getting back online. I did all the important stuff and now I’m checking out your dumb blog. (I’m really full of attitude today–sorry about that, Steve. I really do love your blog. I’m just giving you a hard time.)

    Roger

    P.S. I will give up “giving you a hard time” for lent.

    Reply
  3. theoldadam, on February 21, 2009 at 6:29 pm said:

    Ivy,

    Doing things and trusting in Him. That is the goal.

    We often fail…but He knows we will. He is our success! He is our authentic Life! He is our strength!

    Thanks Kiddo!!

    Reply
  4. theoldadam, on February 21, 2009 at 6:30 pm said:

    Roger,

    You are alright, in my book!

    (I’m giving up ‘my book’ for Lent.)

    😀

    Reply
  5. theoldadam, on February 21, 2009 at 7:55 pm said:

    Soheyla ( a woman in our congregation) says that a good #10 would be “giving up staying in our shells”.

    WE ought to get out of the house and let our lights shine!

    Thanks Soheyla, for your great suggestion and for your e-mail.

    – Steve

    Reply
  6. Doorman-Priest, on February 21, 2009 at 9:39 pm said:

    I could give up blogging period!

    But I won’t.

    Its back to alcohol and chocolate.

    Reply
  7. theoldadam, on February 21, 2009 at 9:48 pm said:

    D.P.,

    You better not give up blogging!

    Anybody can give up alcohol and chocolate.(except me)

    I’m going to try and give up being a jerk. (#’s 1,4,5,6,7,)

    Reply
  8. Doorman-Priest, on February 22, 2009 at 1:15 pm said:

    Actually, I thought I might give up being tolerant of vegetarians.

    You invte them round and take great care to respect their ethics in the meal you provide. On the return match do they do the same and cook meat?

    Do they ****!

    Reply
  9. theoldadam, on February 22, 2009 at 2:15 pm said:

    Doorman-Priest,

    “Actually, I thought I might give up being tolerant of vegetarians.”

    I gave that up in the 70’s.

    Good point. They never do return the favor!!

    Thanks D.P.!

    Reply
  10. Karneval and Lent « KathyBou’s Blog, on February 23, 2009 at 10:45 am said:

    […] Give up complaining, gossiping, hating, and blaming – a tall order. […]

    Reply
  11. graceshaker, on February 23, 2009 at 8:33 pm said:

    i dont know enuf about lent. i know its 40 days leading to the passion. but maybe someone could give me a little heads up or a link to info?

    Reply
  12. theoldadam, on February 23, 2009 at 9:00 pm said:

    Graceshaker,

    Yeah, you’ve got the time frame down.

    I don’t know all the history, but at our church we observe Lent (with a midseek worship service in addition to Sunday services).

    We take a good, honest look at ourselves and our sinfulness, that we might fully understand the reasons that led up to Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter. Those reasons revolve around…’us’.

    I do know that in the early church, it was a time of learning about the faith (for adult converts) before they were baptised on Easter Sunday.

    I’ll look around for something better for you to read about it.

    Reply
  13. Liz, on February 25, 2009 at 9:25 pm said:

    you dont have to give up anything you can however do something extra like read the bible EVERY NIGHT thats what i am going to do but i wish i could give up homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!

    Reply
  14. theoldadam, on February 25, 2009 at 10:04 pm said:

    LIz,

    Hang in there, Liz!

    The day will come when you will not have any more homework!

    Then it will all be, ‘work work’ !

    I don’t know which is worse. 😀

    Yo are right, Liz! We don’t have to do anything at all to be a Christian! (but we want to do things!)

    Thanks for stopping by those great comments, Liz!

    – Steve Martin

    Reply
  15. Theresa K., on February 26, 2009 at 4:27 am said:

    Now that’s a list I can get behind for Lent! Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply
  16. theoldadam, on February 26, 2009 at 6:52 pm said:

    Theresa K.,

    Thanks!

    I’ll paass your comment along to Pastor Mark!

    He will aprreciate it, as well!

    – Steve

    Reply

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