Atomic Sanctification Bomb, aka Lent
The bad thing about actually praying about what (if anything) you should give up for Lent is that usually it's something that will be extremely messy (sanctification level: atomic) and give you a greater sense of your inherent sinful nature and general suckiness.
I thought giving up something like sweets or coffee could be good...the classic no-Facebook-for-Lent one is always sanctifying. Maybe trying to fast more, that's really religious! Spend an hour a day in the Word.
Those are all great options. Which one, which one. I know! I'll pray about it! That's religious too.
And then I prayed about it. Shoot.
What I am fasting for Lent: bad attitudes.
Ughh I hate even typing it.
I wanted it to be something that doesn't become legalistic or works-based, but really pushes my reliance further upon Christ, I came to the conclusion late last night that one of the biggest things that keeps me from relying upon Christ, looking to Him, trusting Him, and rejoicing in Him is bad attitudes. And oh friends, I am great at rocking a bad attitude.
I so wish with every self-righteous bone in my body those bad attitudes were from dwelling upon how much sin is in the world and how much it disgraces God, or about the sex trafficking problem and how it ruins millions of people's lives, or pure heartbreak over slaughtered babies or unsaved souls. Someone, anyone, tell me that I am not the only one with a bad attitude problem?!
But really, it's mostly just ridiculous things that I won't remember next week. Or worse: I'm just not believing things the Bible says that are supposed to make us trust God, rejoice in our circumstances, and hope in Him. I don't do that enough. I'm not looking to that as my anchor. Even greater than a bad attitude, this problem is really an unbiblical attitude. And so I have comprised this all-star team consisting of the Holy Father, mediating Son, strength-giving Spirit, and a brutally honest husband. And we are going to nip it in the bud.
This is my contract with myself. Not claiming I'm going to do this perfectly, but my prayer is to have a greater capacity to believe the promises of God immediately, to rest in His goodness, and ultimately glorify Him more in my attitudes and thoughts. Here goes nothing:
Until Easter, I, Whitney Dziurawiec, will not allow myself to have a unbiblical attitude about things in this life. I will replace negative thoughts with firm promises from God's Word and I will believe them immediately.
During this time I will not stifle my feelings; rather, when something does hurt/disappoint/offend me, I will be honest about those feelings but be quick to deal with them. If someone hurts or offends me, I will bring this up to them gracefully and forgive them no matter the outcome, reminding myself of the cross which makes forgiveness possible. And if I am not in a position to confront this person, I will think the best of them and, looking to the Spirit for strength, forgive them in my heart.
When I have to do something I do not want to do, like around the house or for support raising, I will lift it up as a sacrifice and service to the Lord almighty, and immediately choose to take joy in my small job in His kingdom. I will rejoice that whatever we do can bring glory to God.
When I am discouraged about a circumstance or situation, I will repeat to myself the promises of His Word and I will choose to believe them and rejoice in them. I will turn to the Word of God first and foremost and let my mind be baptized into joy, peace, and hope because of who He is and what He will do.
I will cry when appropriate, I will be saddened by things that are sad, I will grieve over terrible things with sorrow but also with hope.
I am commanded in God's Word to rejoice. And "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) So I will seek an even greater knowledge of Him in order to have the divine power through His Spirit to accomplish this. I will seek God daily to convict me, to remind me of His promises, His hope, and His strength.
And finally, as these days lead up to Passion Week, I will let each sin and failure point me to the cross of Christ and rejoice that these failures are no longer fatal, but redeemable through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, and, through this deepened understanding of my own sin and His matchless grace, I will rejoice all the more deeply on this coming Easter Sunday
So, that's it I guess? We will see how this goes. My accountability partner is the Holy Spirit and a husband whom I am around about 70% of the day so I can promise you that bad attitudes won't go unchecked.
No bad attitudes starting now through Easter (and hopefully, beyond).
Lord, help me...at least I'm not fasting sweets too.
I thought giving up something like sweets or coffee could be good...the classic no-Facebook-for-Lent one is always sanctifying. Maybe trying to fast more, that's really religious! Spend an hour a day in the Word.
Those are all great options. Which one, which one. I know! I'll pray about it! That's religious too.
And then I prayed about it. Shoot.
What I am fasting for Lent: bad attitudes.
Ughh I hate even typing it.
I wanted it to be something that doesn't become legalistic or works-based, but really pushes my reliance further upon Christ, I came to the conclusion late last night that one of the biggest things that keeps me from relying upon Christ, looking to Him, trusting Him, and rejoicing in Him is bad attitudes. And oh friends, I am great at rocking a bad attitude.
I so wish with every self-righteous bone in my body those bad attitudes were from dwelling upon how much sin is in the world and how much it disgraces God, or about the sex trafficking problem and how it ruins millions of people's lives, or pure heartbreak over slaughtered babies or unsaved souls. Someone, anyone, tell me that I am not the only one with a bad attitude problem?!
But really, it's mostly just ridiculous things that I won't remember next week. Or worse: I'm just not believing things the Bible says that are supposed to make us trust God, rejoice in our circumstances, and hope in Him. I don't do that enough. I'm not looking to that as my anchor. Even greater than a bad attitude, this problem is really an unbiblical attitude. And so I have comprised this all-star team consisting of the Holy Father, mediating Son, strength-giving Spirit, and a brutally honest husband. And we are going to nip it in the bud.
This is my contract with myself. Not claiming I'm going to do this perfectly, but my prayer is to have a greater capacity to believe the promises of God immediately, to rest in His goodness, and ultimately glorify Him more in my attitudes and thoughts. Here goes nothing:
Until Easter, I, Whitney Dziurawiec, will not allow myself to have a unbiblical attitude about things in this life. I will replace negative thoughts with firm promises from God's Word and I will believe them immediately.
During this time I will not stifle my feelings; rather, when something does hurt/disappoint/offend me, I will be honest about those feelings but be quick to deal with them. If someone hurts or offends me, I will bring this up to them gracefully and forgive them no matter the outcome, reminding myself of the cross which makes forgiveness possible. And if I am not in a position to confront this person, I will think the best of them and, looking to the Spirit for strength, forgive them in my heart.
When I have to do something I do not want to do, like around the house or for support raising, I will lift it up as a sacrifice and service to the Lord almighty, and immediately choose to take joy in my small job in His kingdom. I will rejoice that whatever we do can bring glory to God.
When I am discouraged about a circumstance or situation, I will repeat to myself the promises of His Word and I will choose to believe them and rejoice in them. I will turn to the Word of God first and foremost and let my mind be baptized into joy, peace, and hope because of who He is and what He will do.
I will cry when appropriate, I will be saddened by things that are sad, I will grieve over terrible things with sorrow but also with hope.
I am commanded in God's Word to rejoice. And "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) So I will seek an even greater knowledge of Him in order to have the divine power through His Spirit to accomplish this. I will seek God daily to convict me, to remind me of His promises, His hope, and His strength.
And finally, as these days lead up to Passion Week, I will let each sin and failure point me to the cross of Christ and rejoice that these failures are no longer fatal, but redeemable through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, and, through this deepened understanding of my own sin and His matchless grace, I will rejoice all the more deeply on this coming Easter Sunday
So, that's it I guess? We will see how this goes. My accountability partner is the Holy Spirit and a husband whom I am around about 70% of the day so I can promise you that bad attitudes won't go unchecked.
No bad attitudes starting now through Easter (and hopefully, beyond).
Lord, help me...at least I'm not fasting sweets too.
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