If you accept the invitation, Lent can be so much more than a countdown to Easter. It is a season steeped in rich tradition.
Fasting is one way to observe Jesus’ walk to the cross. But this tradition goes beyond depriving yourself of food or alcohol.
Specifically, for you, as you journey to sexual integrity, fasting can be a powerful way to grow in self-control. What initially feels like denying yourself can become, with diligence and dedication, a chance to free yourself.
In this episode, we’ll turn to the Gospel to hear how Matthew gives voice to our hunger and how Jesus gives voice to our satisfaction.
Highlights:
Fasting helps you grow in self-control. Strengthens you to say ‘no’ to what you don’t need.
Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus walked on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me and be my disciple.’ And Matthew got up and followed him.”
In this verse, as the author, Matthew is acknowledging he is sick. He identifies himself as the one Jesus came to seek and to save.
Our hunger is not the problem, it is part of the solution. Once we recognize that we are hungry for something more than food, more than sin, more than likes, more than distraction and comfort - then we’ll be able to recognize who we are and whose we are. And we, like Matthew, can stand up and say, that’s me. I’m one of the hungry ones and I need the bridegroom.
Homework:
As you practice Fasting, when you feel the lack, pray these defiant words “Lord, I feel hunger in my body, but I am more hungry and more thirsty for you.”
Transcription:
Full Transcription Available here
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