My husband and I still need to talk about this (it's been a little crazy lately, what with the seizure, trip to the emergency department, and unplanned admission to the hospital this week), but I am thinking about taking part in an exercise in self-denial and contentment called "30 Days of Nothing." You can read more about it here, and why it's a great idea here.I really like her observations about our sense of entitlement. I catch myself thinking that way all the time. Things like, "I've worked hard today, so I deserve to take it easy" or "Things have been really crazy so I need to splurge a little." But nowhere does "You deserve it" appear in Scripture, outside of discussion of judgment and hell.
Denying ourselves certainly doesn't make us holy -- I think convents, monasteries, and the priesthood scandals in the Catholic church prove that. However, the Bible does say, "If your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out. And if your arm causes you to sin, cut it off." So sometimes, in areas where we find ourselves especially weak and unable to resist temptation, we need to engage in radical amputation. This month of purposefully choosing not to consume certain things sounds like a good idea for me.
