What Is Lent and Why Do Christians Celebrate Lent?
Lent can be confusing for kids (and adults!). While the secular world might see Lent as a time to go on a diet, Lent is about much more than giving up sweets or sodas for 40 days. It's an opportunity to focus our attention on Christ and His sacrifice in the days leading up to Easter. Although it began as a Roman Catholic tradition, Christians of various denominations participate in Lent.
Below, we've rounded up a few posts on Lent that will help you understand its history. They might give you ideas for incorporating Lenten traditions in your family.
Lent is not in the Bible, but it's a tradition that began with the early Church. Learn all about the origins of Lent and why people fast during these 40 days. Discover what Lent was like for early Christians as well as how modern Christians celebrate it.
How do we teach our kids that Lent is about more than giving up candy for 40 days? How do we help them prepare for the somberness of Good Friday and the celebration of the Resurrection? Find ways to talk to your kids about Lent, ideas for practicing Lent as a family, and resources for Lent.
We know there's nothing we can do to earn our salvation, but giving something up for Lent can be a way to focus on living sacrificially. When we give something up, we turn our lives over to Jesus and turn away from sin.
The 40 days of Lent take us back to Jesus' 40 days spent in the desert. We prepare ourselves during these 40 days to commemorate Jesus' death and resurrection. Learn more about Ash Wednesday and why some Christians wear ash on their forehead on this day.
Lent is a wonderful reminder of God's provision and grace in our lives and when we celebrate at the Sabbath table on Easter Sunday, we rejoice and feast with our King. Read more about Lent and find great resources for your family.
Ashes are used as a symbol of the beginning of the season of Lent. They remind us of our sinfulness and our mortality. Whether or not you receive ashes on your forehead, you can take the 40 days of Lent to examine your heart and prepare yourself for the coming Easter. Is there something you can take away from your life that will help you focus on Christ more fully? Now is a great time to begin the conversations with your children that will help them grow in Christ during this time.
The included Bible stories will help you share the life and ministry of Jesus with your child during the Lenten season. Focusing your child's attention on Jesus' life as we head towards Easter is a great way to open their heart to deeper friendship with him. Discussing these important parts of the story is essential to building conversations of faith in your home.
Christine Bailey shares her heart for Lent: Freedom is not the absence of limitations; it is the choice of limitations. As a human, I am given the ability to design my own program for my freedom. As a believer, I've been given full freedom from Christ, but how I live my life decides if I embrace that or not. Out of this freedom, whom and what will I serve?
If your family wants to learn more about Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us, the DVD "Jesus Is The Good News!" is a wonderful way to help your children understand Jesus' death and resurrection. A mom from Monrovia, CA wrote us to say "I love the truth, the emotion, the information and the heart of the story. The characters themselves struggle with the truth of what Jesus did for them, and this moment gives such an opportunity for young hearts to really wonder at the truth."