{"id":34273,"date":"2025-02-24T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T18:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:31:00","slug":"10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every year, Christians of various denominations observe Lent, a six-week period ahead of Easter, where participants &quot;give something up&quot; while pursuing a closer relationship with God. Usually, when someone decides what they will be giving up, they will pick a habit, food, or hobby that they enjoy enough that it will be significantly missed throughout the period of Lent. That way, its absence is extremely noticeable (and even a little uncomfortable) as they make such a substantial shift in their typical day-to-day. Then, the yearning for what has been given up works as a reminder to turn to God and recognize how He truly meets all needs.<\/p>\n\n<p>For those who observe Lent annually, it can be challenging to think of new ideas of what they will give up each winter. Trying to figure out what you&#39;ll be giving up for Lent this year? Here are 10 meaningful things to give up for Lent:<\/p>\n\n<p>1. Complaining &ndash; Take the opportunity to choose gratitude over grumbling.<\/p>\n\n<p>2. Sweet treats &ndash; It will help your health and be a reminder that only God truly sustains us.<\/p>\n\n<p>3, Television &ndash; Stop the small screen binge and grow in your spiritual life instead.<\/p>\n\n<p>4. Screen Time &ndash; Spend less time checking friends&rsquo; updates and check in with Christ.<\/p>\n\n<p>5. Gossiping &ndash; It&rsquo;s easy to insult or judge others. Instead, tame your tongue biblically.<\/p>\n\n<p>6. Video games &ndash; Instead of fantasy worlds of adventure, read the real-life stories of the Bible.<\/p>\n\n<p>7. Shopping &ndash; Decide not to store up treasures in your closet, but store them up in heaven.<\/p>\n\n<p>8. Coffee &ndash; Instead of facing the world with caffeine, learn to rely on God.<\/p>\n\n<p>9. Soda &ndash; Every time you think about grabbing that fizzy drink, use it as a reminder to pray.<\/p>\n\n<p>10. Worrying &ndash; You can&rsquo;t stop worry completely, but choose to go to God with it instead.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"><em>Possible Preaching Angles: <\/em><\/h2>\n\n<p><em>This a good way to set up a sermon on Lent or spiritual disciplines.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[433],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3443,3664,3839,3966,4112,4312,4363,4439,4537,4541,4802,4803,4805,4882,4919,4980,5049,5061],"tax_ctp_topics":[380,404],"class_list":["post-34273","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-ash-wednesday","tax_ctp_tags-confession-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-easter","tax_ctp_tags-fasting","tax_ctp_tags-habits","tax_ctp_tags-judging-ourselves","tax_ctp_tags-lent","tax_ctp_tags-maundy-thursday","tax_ctp_tags-new-birth","tax_ctp_tags-new-life","tax_ctp_tags-renewal","tax_ctp_tags-renewing-the-mind","tax_ctp_tags-repentance","tax_ctp_tags-sanctification","tax_ctp_tags-self-examination","tax_ctp_tags-sinful-desires","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-growth","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-renewal"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every year, Christians of various denominations observe Lent, a six-week period ahead of Easter, where participants &quot;give something up&quot; while pursuing a closer relationship with God. Usually, when someone decides what they will be giving up, they will pick a habit, food, or hobby that they enjoy enough that it will be significantly missed throughout Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/\",\"name\":\"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T18:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-24T18:31:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/10-meaningful-things-to-give-up-for-lent\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Meaningful Things to Give Up for Lent - CT Pastors","og_description":"Every year, Christians of various denominations observe Lent, a six-week period ahead of Easter, where participants &quot;give something up&quot; while pursuing a closer relationship with God. 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