'Detaching' For Lent

Preparing for Lent this year was a wakeup call for me. I’ve heard it said often that it’s better to not focus on giving up things like chocolate for Lent, and instead consider adding good habits to your life. I decided I wanted to do a little bit of both.

I reflected on my life and considered the things that seem to hold me back from living a more prayerful life centered around God instead of myself. I spend too much time on social media, but I don’t want to give that up for 40 days; that would be too hard. I spend too much time watching Netflix, but I don’t want to completely give that up until Easter; that would be miserable. I drink way too much coffee for it to be healthy, but I don’t want to give that up for all of Lent; that would be too difficult. I spend a lot of time in the morning putting on makeup and trying to perfect my appearance, but I can’t give up makeup for 40 days; that would be impossible.

Suddenly, I realized what I was thinking to myself. I kept making excuses and taking the easy way out. Instead of trying to pinpoint something I could truly sacrifice and struggle with giving up, I was pushing aside my biggest vices in order to find something easier to let go of so that Lent would be a more comfortable experience.

Why is it so difficult for me to let these things go? How had I become so attached to these silly little things that I was making it seem impossible for me to give them up for 40 days? That’s 10 percent of a single year that I didn’t think I could go without these insignificant little things that waste my precious time. I’m not saying any of these things are inherently bad; but if they consume too much of our time, then we can become addicted to them and feel so afraid to give them up, like I was.

Let’s face it; everything in this life will soon pass away. We overestimate how much time we have on this earth. A lifetime seems like forever; but truly, it goes by in the blink of an eye. We forget that our time is limited and that our life is a tiny particle of sand on the unending beach of eternity.

That is why detachment is so important. It should be our everyday goal to be free of the things in this world that hold us down from rising to a new life with Christ. “Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.” Detachment is a beautiful thing to strive towards. It’s not easy to let go of these little things that consume our lives. They might seem harmless but anything that comes in between us and God is never worth it in the long run. They can be acid eroding and destroying our prayer lives if they take a higher priority than connecting with God.

So this Lent I challenge you to look at the things in your life that hold you back from having a better relationship with Christ. There’s always going to be something that keeps us from having a more connected relationship with Him. Answer this question and reflect on your own life. What do I need to let go of in order to grow closer to God?

Dear God, give us the strength to let go of the things that distract us from You. Give us the perseverance to hold onto and continuously build the most important thing in our lives, and that is our relationship with You.