Precursor here: I am not Catholic. I am a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ alone but I wanted to try this "Lent" thing and give up something(s) that would allow me to find pleasure and joy in Christ alone. Not in those things... whatever they may be... for me they are:
1) drinks - I have only drank water for the past 39 days, and haven't allowed myself to drink anything else but I have been eating like normal with no alteration.
2) facebook - no facebook.
I thought that giving up facebook would be the hardest but it really hasn't been a big deal at all. I miss hearing about family and friends' lives back home and around the world, but that's about it. I realized how much time I waste on facebook. The fast has allowed me a few minutes here and there to read my Bible more or other spiritual books, or do other things around the house such as little sewing projects with the girls. It felt like it was redeeming the way I used my time.
Only drinking water was shockingly harder to me than I thought it would be. I really craved sugary drinks from sweet tea to juices. We are not big soda drinkers, but even that was sounding really good to me during the past 40 days. Ha. It gave me good opportunities to think about how I long to desire Christ more than the sugary substance that brought me pleasure and satisfied my soul. Sounds silly, I know, but it's true. Giving up something you are so accustomed to provides good opportunity to see what it is that satisfies your body and soul and then take that it and compare it to my desire for Christ, being in His Word, prayer, etc.
So I think that I will do something like this again. It doesn't have to be for Lent, but it was a good chance to give up things I do find great pleasure in and seek to find far even greater pleasure in Christ alone.
And yes, I would encourage you to try it out too! What about you? Have you ever given up something for Lent? How did it turn out?
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