First Lent Experience - Sweet Like Honey

This year I had my first Lent experience.

I grew up in a nondenominational church and never really learned anything about Lent. All I knew was that people gave up their favorite foods for a little over a month. If you do not know what Lent is, it is a season of 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday that represents the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness resisting the temptations of Satan. Now that I am at a Christian university, I am exposed to so many different aspects of Christianity that I never heard about before. One of them being a serious take on fasting. To celebrate this new knowledge and the fact that the reality of Jesus' sacrifice is becoming ever so real to me, I decided to participate in Lent and give up negative speech.

Negative speech? That's it? Not rice or coffee? I wanted to give up something that would have a real impact on my character and my life. I wanted to sacrifice something that would hopefully remain sacrificial for the rest of my life, not just 40 days. Recently, I have been such a negative person. Always complaining and not saying very kind things about other people. I do not like being someone who speaks badly about other people. So on Wednesday, February 14th, I declared that whatever leaves my lips must be pleasing unto the Lord.

My mission for Lent:

Everything that leaves my lips should be sweet like honey

I will give up sarcasm, sassy speech, anything that doesn't glorify God

I will learn to speak with godly integrity. I need to remember that I represent Him, not just myself

I'll be real with you. I failed. Hard. I definitely thought more before I spoke and held my tongue on many occasions, but at the end of the day, I would vent about something someone did or said that had upset me. Although I didn't say it to their face, I still said it out loud which is exactly what I told myself, and God, what I wouldn't do.

What did I learn?

Words reflect your heart & soul. What leaves your lips are uttered from whatever you are feeling inside. If I have such negative things to say about other people, what does that say about me? It says that I am prideful, arrogant, judgmental, condescending, not very loving, & not very kind. That is not a golden vessel that brings honor to the Spirit she holds. That is a vessel covered in rust & smut. That is not someone that I want to be. I want to be someone who only speaks the truth & brings glory to her Father.

Proverbs 16:24

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul & health to the body," (ESV).

Honey is sweet & medicinal. I want the things that I say to matter and bring joy to each ear they reach. I want my words to heal wounds, not pour salt on them. My first Lent experience has certainly taught me that. I still fall short, but it is my prayer that I become someone who only speaks positively about people and the world around her. Jesus died for me who was among those who crucified Him. Who am I to be so mean to someone else when I have been given such grace? May we always remember that we are no better than the person next to us. We are saved by Grace alone.

Be happy, be healthy, be a Golden Vessel.