The Heart Behind Practice
As the season of Lent continues, those fasting at this time may begin to long for the weeks ahead when they can finally be free to do things like accessing Instagram or eating chocolate cake again. However, today's reflection invites believers to consider the state of our heart when fasting. Is it joyful and selfless? Or prideful and for the sake of showing off to others how “spiritual” we are?
One Bible passage that particularly addresses fasting is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. In this passage, Jesus condemns the Pharisees, who had gone out of their way to make sure onlookers would recognize their fasting and applaud them for doing so (Matthew 6:16–18). Yet the result of such behavior is that “they have received their reward” already (Matt. 6:16b). In contrast, Jesus commands Christians to do the exact opposite: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). Instead of seeking the approval and praise of others, as the Pharisees did, Christians are urged to focus our hearts entirely on God, using our fasting to cultivate a faithful attitude of reverence to Him.
What, then, does this mean for us? While excluding something from your life for the Lenten season, this passage reminds us that the ultimate goal of our fasting should be to turn our hearts toward God—perhaps by meditating on Him in His Word, using for God the time that would otherwise be spent on whatever you're fasting from. In such fasting, Jesus specifically commands us to avoid prideful behavior: He directs us not to boast or show off our “righteousness" to friends around us, but rather to keep our actions unknown to others.
Now, is it wrong to ever mention to others that you're currently fasting? Certainly not—indeed, Christians are called to encourage one another through fellowship in such practices (Romans 14:17). However, it would be worth considering whether the ways we fast are actually glorifying God—or are we simply spiritually “showing off.” Perhaps you’re dreamily lingering by the dessert table while around your friends, or you’re grumbling about your fast every time someone near you eats something you're fasting from. Maybe you’re constantly mentioning how you're fasting from Instagram, reminding those around you that you aren't able to see their recent posts. Does an attitude like this truly reflect a desire to glorify God more than anything else? Or are we selfishly and pridefully seeking to glorify ourselves and appear as “good Christians”?
In the face of this kind of pridefulness, we should encourage one another to glorify God in all that we do—especially fasting. How much greater is God’s approval than any human praise? As Christians, instead of longing for others to view us as “spiritual,” let us long to “…magnify the Lord… and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3), knowing that His reward is so much more abundant and wonderful than anything that this world could offer.