Lent: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Why We’re Using the Bible as Our Filter

If you grew up Catholic—or in a community shaped by Catholic tradition—you may hear the word Lent and feel one of two things:

• warmth and familiarity

• or the tension of worshipping in a Protestant church.

  
  

Either way, we want to approach Lent with clarity, charity, and most importantly: the gospel.

This post is a simple guide to what Lent is, what it isn’t, its historical origins, and how we can practice it in a way that’s biblically grounded and spiritually life-giving.

What Lent is

1) Lent is a voluntary season of preparation for Easter

The Bible doesn’t command a church calendar. You won’t find “Lent” as a required observance in the New Testament.But you will find a repeated biblical pattern: God’s people preparing their hearts to meet Him.

• Israel prepared to meet God (Exodus 19)

• God called His people back through repentance and fasting (Joel 2)

• Jesus entered the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4 / Luke 4)

  
  

Lent is best understood as a training season—a set-aside window to slow down, examine ourselves, and re-center our lives on Jesus as we approach the cross and resurrection.

2) Lent is a season of repentance

Repentance is not a Catholic thing. It’s a Christian thing.

Jesus’ message is simple: “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Repentance isn’t self-hatred—it’s a return. It means turning away from sin and turning toward God.

Lent is one way the church has historically said: “Let’s make room to do what Scripture calls us to do.”

3) Lent can include fasting, and fasting is biblical

Jesus taught about fasting in Matthew 6 and spoke as though it would be part of His disciples’ spiritual life: “When you fast…”

Biblical fasting isn’t a hunger strike to force God’s hand. It’s a way of saying, “I want God more than I want this.” It can reveal what we lean on for comfort, and it can reorder our loves.

4) Lent can also include simplicity and generosity

In Scripture, repentance isn’t only internal—it affects how we live.

Isaiah 58 connects true fasting with mercy, justice, and care for others. Zacchaeus demonstrates repentance through generosity and restitution (Luke 19:8–10).

So Lent is not only “giving something up.” Sometimes it also means giving something away.

What Lent isn’t (this matters most)

1) Lent is not a way to earn God’s love

This is where many people have pain. Lent can sound like spiritual merit, like we suffer to get God to accept us. That is not the gospel.

• “By grace you have been saved… not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9)

• “No condemnation for those in Christ” (Romans 8:1)

• Jesus offered one final sacrifice, once for all (Hebrews 10)

  
  

So we do not practice Lent to get God to love us.

We practice Lent because God already loves us, and we want our lives aligned with Jesus.

2) Lent is not about public performance

Jesus warns repeatedly against religious showmanship in Matthew 6: giving to be seen, praying to impress, fasting for applause. If Lent becomes: “Look how disciplined I am,” we’ve missed it. A gospel-shaped Lent focuses on the inward life: humility, honesty, repentance, worship.

3) Lent isn’t just “giving up chocolate”

You can give up something and never meet God. You can sacrifice and still avoid the real issue: your heart.

A good Lent practice should move you toward:

• deeper dependence on God

• honest repentance

• greater love for others

• attentiveness to Jesus

  
  

If it doesn’t lead toward Christ, it’s just self-improvement.

Where Lent came from (a brief history)

The “40 days” theme

Lent is associated with forty days because Scripture repeatedly uses “40” as a season of testing or preparation: Israel in the wilderness, Moses on Sinai, and especially Jesus’ forty days of fasting and temptation (Matthew 4 / Luke 4).

Early Christianity: preparation for baptism and Easter

In the early church, the season leading up to Easter became a time of intensified prayer, fasting, and instruction—especially for those preparing for baptism at Easter (a major baptismal feast in many early communities).

Ashes and repentance

Ashes as a sign of repentance and humility are deeply biblical (Job 42:6; Daniel 9:3; Jonah 3:6). Historically, the church used ashes especially in connection with public repentance. Over time, as penitential practices developed, the use of ashes became associated with the beginning of Lent in Western Christianity.

Different traditions

Ash Wednesday became standard in the Western church (Catholic and later many Protestant traditions), while Eastern Orthodox churches begin Lent differently (often with Clean Monday) and historically have not emphasized Ash Wednesday in the same way.

The key point: Lent is a historic Christian practice, not a New Testament command—so it should never be treated as a salvation issue. It’s a tool, not a test.

A simple gospel definition

Lent is a voluntary season of repentance and training—preparing our hearts for Easter through prayer, fasting, and generosity—not to earn grace, but to respond to grace.

How to practice Lent without guilt or confusion

If you’re new to Lent, don’t start with perfection. Start with sincerity.

Pick one practice:

Prayer

• 5 minutes daily

• Suggested prayers: Psalm 139:23–24; Psalm 51:10

  
  

Fasting

• One meal a week

• Or one comfort that reveals desire (social media, snacks, entertainment)

  
  

Generosity

• One intentional act of giving each week

• Money, time, meals, encouragement, service

  
  

The goal isn’t to impress anyone. The goal is to make space for Jesus.

Final word for “recovering Catholics”

If Lent brings up anxiety in you, hear this clearly:

God is not asking you to earn your way back.

He is inviting you to come into the light, to return, and to find joy again.

Lent is not a burden. It’s an invitation.

And we’re walking toward Easter together.