What Does Lent Mean for Me?
Time flies, and Lent 2025 is upon us. This forty-day season (Sundays excluded), culminating in Easter, begins with Ash Wednesday. The word “Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “lencten,” meaning “spring.” While discussed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, its official start on a Wednesday was established later at the time of Gregory the Great.
Ash Wednesday highlights our mortality and the need for confession of our sin within the faith community. The ashes, sometimes marked on foreheads, symbolize our return to dust. They remind us that our earthly efforts will one day be reduced to nothing. We are burdened by ingrained sinful habits and powerless to change them on our own.
Lent is a period of corporate reflection, confronting our mortality and embracing repentance and reconciliation. Through confession and forgiveness, we acknowledge our sinfulness and turn away from it.
This season is also a time of testing—an opportunity to examine our spiritual health and readiness, whether for the end of our life in this world or for the second coming of Christ. Like Moses in Psalm 90:12, we should pray, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
The call to observe Lent—through self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, self-denial, and meditating on God’s Word—serves as a reminder to live prepared to meet our Lord at any moment. Every moment is precious, and we must make the most of the time God grants us, living as Jesus taught.
Practical Steps for Lenten Self-Discipline:
- Give up complaining and focus on gratitude.
Philippians 2:14-15 – “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure…”
- Give up bitterness and turn to forgiveness.
Ephesians 4:31 – “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”
- Give up worry and trust in God.
Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
- Give up gossiping and control your tongue.
Psalm 34:13 – “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.”
Summary:
Lent calls us to look beyond ourselves, to identify with others, and to reach out to those in need. During this season, we reclaim the practices of fasting, private prayer, corporate repentance, and giving to the poor—disciplines that are both God-centred and community-enriching. Through these practices, we live out our discipleship to Jesus.
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