3 Things You Should Continue to Give up After Lent

If you are anything like me coming into Lent this year, I was already feeling like I had given up so much of my freedom, my routines and my sense of security in response to an ongoing pandemic and a world at war.

Lent, the season leading up to Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross and the glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday, came at just the right time for me.

Maybe it came at the right time for you as well. Instead of continuing to focus on all we had sacrificed just to keep surviving in the last two plus years, it was time to stop and reconsider what we could choose to give up in order to pick up something greater moving forward.

Whether you self-identify as a leader or whether you still struggle with that title but others follow you nonetheless, there are three things you should continue to choose to give up after Lent.

1. Leaders should give up being fearful.

Has all the worry and anxiety you have felt in recent months served to move you forward in your mission and vision or stopped you in your tracks? Perhaps in the season ahead, you can renew your reliance and dependence on Jesus. He conquered death and the grave – He can also conquer whatever you are facing no matter how difficult it may seem.

2. Leaders should give up thinking they can control everything.

John Wooden nailed this when he said, “The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control.” I believe this principle has been at the core for any of us who find ourselves not being able to do great things.

3. Leaders should give up bad habits.

To be honest, I have picked up some routines in the past two years that I am having a hard time shaking off now that the world is opening up. I gave myself a lot of freedom and had the luxury of procrastinating on projects because time seemed to stretch. In resistance to the life of overload, I am hesitant to commit to normal responsibilities.
 

It’s time to relearn sustainable habits that will offer both purposeful rest and productivity.

It’s always a trade-off.

You need to be able to discern what you can lay down in order to pick up something greater.

My challenge to you today is to give up your fear, your need to control and unhelpful habits in order to pick up steadfastness, letting go of what you cannot control and move forward in a healthy cadence.

This is your strong way forward.

Cathie