A couple of days back, I posted a post (is there a better way to phrase that?) about how you might want to take on (rather than give up) something for Lent. But giving something up doesn’t have to mean sacrificing something that brings you joy, it can mean letting go of things that bring you down.

Consider the following disciplines:

Give up caring what other people think of you.

Give up stuff you don’t use (see Bag a Day)

Give up believing that things will make you happy and buying stuff you don’t need.

Give up spending too much time at work.

Give up fixing everything for your kids.

Give up making excuses about why you don’t go to church/pray/read your Bible more and just do it.

Give up criticizing others (join the Women Lifting Women for Lent movement)

Lent is the season to give up those things that keep us from being the people God calls us to be. A time to repent (literally to turn around) and make our way toward the cross. A perfect time to give up the things that hinder our journey.