Spiritual Fitness Sample

Fasting

Have you ever had to live without something that you use on a daily basis? It’s a weird, exposing, and vulnerable feeling whenever are having to live without something you depend on and value so much. This is what makes fasting so powerful! The misunderstanding about fasting is that it is self-punishment or just something that Christians do from time to time without really ever knowing why. Fasting is a way for us to get closer to God and to open up ourselves to receive from Him. It’s not meant to be a ritual that everyone does just to say they have done it. It’s also not meant to be a status symbol to bring attention to yourself (Matthew 6:16). The act of fasting is to temporarily take away something that holds value in your life and to let God fill that space in order to know Him more. Fasting may look like giving up social media for a period of time so that instead of scrolling through every morning or night, you take that time to read the Bible or to talk to God. It could be fasting a certain food by making an active decision to refrain from eating to remind you to bring God into your daily thoughts and life. Fasting is the act of taking away something that you value and allowing God to use that space in your life to speak to you. 

What is something that you value that you can fast from to give space to God? Ask a trusted leader or friend to help you pray about what you can fast and to help keep you accountable to it.