I generally give up something really difficult every year for Lent (ex: lying, swearing, etc.) To me, it defeats the whole purpose of Lent if you can "take breaks" so to speak. You might as well tough it out the whole 40 days :-D

Good luck!

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 corinthians 10:31.

Thats what I usually do every year. And then I stumbled across this fact, I never knewit was true though lol

it shouldn't change anything

Well the first thing I'll ask you, what is Lent? What is the entire purpose of Lent? Lent is where you give something up and the whole point is that you need to WORK for your salvation. The Catholics made up Lent to give something up for 40 days, the entire point being you WORK for your salvation for the Lord.

However, we don't need to work for our salvation because Jesus Christ did that for all of us already. Jesus Christ did the hard part so that we all could have a 'free ticket into heaven' so to speak. The point I'm trying to make is that you don't need to do Lent because all of the work is done for you already through Jesus Christ.

actually that's not really correct. I'm almost positive it started with the same type of purpose as fasting in the Old and New testament. The purpose of fasting was not to do works for salvation, but rather the true goal was to help you focus on God. The idea behind fasting is that whenever you feel the urge to indulge in whatever it is you have given up (whether food or otherwise), you use that as a reminder to pray and meditate.

So really, the goal is not for you to work for your salvation, but rather for you to do something to increase your focus on your sanctification.

Fasting is definitely a discipline that is talked about in the Bible in a good light, and encouraged. Jesus himself fasted for 40 days in the desert just before he started His ministry.

This post was edited by DoomOnYou on Mar 16 2010 12:41am

Yes that is the entire point and purpose to Lenting, giving something up for 40 days and instead, devote that time to focusing on God. This is so you can become closer to God and learn more about him. Beyond that though, many people believe that if you do that, you are EARNING your way into Heaven. As in WORKING for your salvation. That very thing is what is motivating them to do Lent in the first place.

So they are doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason. Same thing as your actions are in the right place but God really looks at where your heart is at.

1 Samuel 16:7 (New International Version)

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+16%3A7&version=NIV

I agree people may have twisted the original intention of lent, but that doesn't change the fact that it's original intentions were still good

That's very true CPK001, and I am probably not the only one who feels this way, but I think we are all guilty of doing that at one point or another. The way I see it, if somebody is lenting to EARN their salvation, they're taking a very small step in the right direction, and it is up to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to guide them away from doing it to EARN their salvation and instead guide them towards doing it for the right reason.

Im leaning more with this. Events in a religion are only as much as they are interpreted by the individual.
Just like most holidays in the Catholic religions.
Many of them have nothing to do with what the holiday has to do with.
Christmas and Easter are both Pagan religions. Not to mention, that both of them are also overplayed commerically.