What (if anything) are you giving up for Lent?

religion.

I’m Lutheran, does that count?
I have these candy bars that are supposed to be low calorie but I go overboard on them and eat to many of them. I am giving them up for Lent.

I’m giving up lent for lent

@rawpixels what about giving up lint for Lent? ;-)

I recently heard that the original purpose for lent was to give up meat and use the money you saved to give alms to the poor. My challenge now is to actually go above and beyond and use this season to help someone else.

@jsc3791
Nooooo, I can’t live without my lint

@Judi I agree. I think I am going to try and volunteer on a regular basis or somehow contribute otherwise to those less fortunate. If anything, Lent is a good excuse to do some good.

@Judi: there are probably a lot of reasons for Lent. One of the original reasons behind the no-meat-on-Fridays tradition was a Pope who wanted to support fishermen, after all….

It’s a very good spiritual practice to find something that interferes with your true happiness and try giving it up for about a month, whether you do it for explicitly religious reasons or not. Or to work on a habit that will contribute to your true happiness for about a month, because once you’ve been doing it for a month, it may continue.

Personal sacrifice

While it’s not generally required as part of the Presbyterian (US) church, we have been encouraged, in the past, to give something up. I gave up alcohol for Lent once and didn’t miss it. Chocolate was harder because you don’t generally think about it much when you grab something chocolate, so it’s easier to slip.

I may try alcohol again this time because last time I lost some weight.

My bishop sent out a letter reminding us that Lent is about preparation for Easter, which, by the way, is not about bunnies and Peeps but the Good News of the Risen Christ.
He encouraged us to do that which spiritually prepares us, rather that some superficial sacrifice.
I intend to be more intentional and faithful to spiritual practices of prayer and Bible study/ devotional reading.

beating it…

I’m not Christian, but I’ve always felt Lent was a great idea!...so is Ash Wednesday…which is today! :D

I am giving up ice cream. It’s the one treat I have since it’s low on the glycemic index so if you take that out…well, looks like I’ll be without sweets for a while, unless I decide to scarf down a cake and kill my pancreas. ><

In my senior year of high school I had an English teacher named Mr. Lent. For lent I made him a T shirt that read: “I gave up Jesus for Lent”

I’m not a Catholic, and I’m not even particularly religious. But I will give up meat this year. And also dairy products the last week.

@madcapper: beating what??

@cdwccrn

I think he meant the same thing as choking the chicken 0.o

@cdwccrn you know… it.

Not sure about choking the chicken, either. Tyson chickens I buy no longer have necks.

“it?”

As I prefer to keep what I am giving up for lent private, I will tell you that I am going to say the Rosary every day and play the guitar more.

@cdwccrn ok fine… the handicapped illegitimate child I keep in the basement…

Restraint.

@madcapper hahaha that’s awful, but so funny in a terrible way.

@cdwccrn

I may be wrong, but I’m 99% sure that he was talking about masturbation. There are soo many kooky names for that: Choking the chicken, beating the meat, swatting the bishop…eh.

@seekingwolf glad I could make someone chuckle out of the horribleness that was my response…