Preparation for Lent starts early. Throughout Lent, we are looking forward to the anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection. Lent lasts forty days and begins on Valentine's Day this year. During the days leading up to Lent, as well as throughout the forty days of Lent, it is important to meditate on Scripture. These individual pieces of Scripture will be able to help us prepare our hearts for Lent.
During Lent, it is common practice to give up something in order to focus on devotion yourself to the Lord. This could be giving up gossiping, television, or even just giving up caffeine. Anything that is hindering your walk with Christ is something you should consider giving up for Lent. By giving up this practice during Lent, you will be able to have more time to focus on what truly matters—Jesus.
There are many things that will try to steal our time and attention away from Jesus, but we do not have to let them. Instead, we can be intentional and give up anything that is not serving us. If something is not helping us in our walk with Christ, there is no reason to hold onto it. We need to let this habit, item, or person go in order for us to truly prepare our hearts for Lent as well as Resurrection Sunday, and beyond!
Here are a few pieces of Scripture to help prepare our hearts for Lent.
1. Sharpen Your Focus through Luke 10:27
One way we can prepare our hearts for Lent is by reflecting on the Scripture passage of Luke 10:27. In this passage, we hear the direct words of the Lord. Jesus says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’: and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Like 10:27). From this passage, we can see where the focus of our heart needs to be during the season of Lent.
Our focus needs to be on Jesus. The most important thing we can do as believers is to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. If we are doing this, we will be able to truly prepare our hearts for Lent. It is easy to grow accustomed to what Jesus has done for us on the cross, but we do not need to take Him for granted. The Lord has done much for us in order to bring our hearts and souls redemption. During this season leading up to Lent, we need to prepare our hearts by loving Jesus. We need to devote time out of our day to spend with Him, praise Him, and worship Him. Just as we need to spend time with others to get to know them better, we need to spend time with Jesus in order to get to know Him better. Only when we do this will we be able to truly prepare our hearts for Lent.
2. Examine Who You're Living For through 2 Corinthians 5:15
A second way to prepare your heart for Lent is by meditating on 2 Corinthians 5:15. Through this verse, we are given much direction, especially in the way we should live our life. The Apostle Paul says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). As Paul tells us in this passage, we should no longer live for ourselves, but rather, we should live for Him who died for us.
The Person Paul is referring to is Jesus. The Lord is the One we celebrate and praise throughout Lent as well as into Resurrection Sunday. We can prepare our hearts during this season by acknowledging that we should live for Christ, not for ourselves. The world tries to tell us that we should live our “best life” and to do anything to ensure our own happiness. This is not in agreement with the Bible.
Rather, the Bible tells us that we should live for Christ. This means we give up sinful practices and choose to stop living for ourselves. We need to be living for Christ. Throughout this season of Lent, we need to reflect on this truth. This will help us greatly as we are going through this season. Our lives are meant to be lived for God and we can do this by loving Him, loving others, and serving Him with our entire hearts.
3. Reflect on Jesus' Great Sacrifice through 2 Corinthians 5:21
Another Scripture passage that will prepare our hearts for Lent comes from the same book of the Bible as our previous verse. This verse is 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This passage is a real reminder of what the Father and Jesus did for us. Through the work of the Father and the Son, we have been given forgiveness and redemption. True forgiveness, redemption, and new life could only be done by Jesus dying on the cross for us.
There was no other way for the Lord to redeem us. He is the sinless sacrifice offered for our sins. Most of us focus on the way Jesus was resurrected, but we have to also pay attention to the truth that He had to suffer and die for our sins.
One example of Jesus suffering was being flogged by the Roman guards as well as he was nailed to a cross. The nails would have gone through His hands or wrists as well as His ankles. This doesn’t include the crown of thorns on His head or all the ridicule that was hurled at Him.
We need to reflect on this when Lent comes around. Jesus endured so much pain, yet He did this because of His love for us. Without this unconditional love from Jesus, we would be without hope and lost in our sins. As it is, we are not without hope because Jesus died for us and was raised three days later.
When you are preparing your heart for Lent, praise Jesus and thank Him for all that He did. Praise Him also for what He is doing now. Jesus defeated death and the devil on the cross, but He is still fighting our own storms, struggles, and demons. The Lord is always more than enough and more powerful than anything we could ever imagine. Nothing is stronger or more powerful than Him.
Lent is a wonderful time to remember this truth. Just as Jesus defeated death, He will defeat whatever we are facing. Choose to give up something this Lent to better focus on Jesus. Prepare your heart properly and know what you need to do in order to better serve Christ during this season of Lent. By properly preparing yourself, you will be able to face the challenge with less struggles.
Give up something that has truly kept you away from the Lord. This could be something such as an ongoing sin in your life. Try your best to abstain from this sin and ask the Lord for His help in this struggle. It is more beneficial for you to fast from something such as this rather than food or water. Through fasting from a sin, such as lying, stealing, or gossiping, it will truly bring you closer to God as well as it will help you grow in your relationship with Him.
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