Repent, Not Lent

Every year, the same season comes around, and people start giving things up.

Sugar.
Coffee.
social media.
Fast food.

For forty days, people modify their behavior, hoping it draws them closer to God. Some even feel proud that they endured it. They made it. They proved discipline.

But Scripture never calls sinners to temporarily modify habits. Scripture calls sinners to repent. Those are not the same thing.

Lent can become a religious exercise that comforts the conscience while leaving the heart untouched. Repentance is a spiritual death that creates a new life. One changes routine. The other changes nature.

Jesus never preached, “Give something up for a season.”
He preached, “Repent.”

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, LSB)

Repentance is not spiritual dieting. It is surrender. It is not removing chocolate while keeping pride, lust, bitterness, and self-rule alive. It is laying down the throne of your life and admitting God has rightful authority over every part of you.

A man can give up soda and still love sin.
A woman can give up social media and still worship self.
A church can practice tradition and still resist Christ.

You can deny the flesh outwardly while feeding it inwardly. That is why repentance always begins in the heart. King David did not promise God he would fast longer or try harder. He asked for something far deeper.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10, LSB)

Repentance is not behavior management. It is a heart transformation. It is agreeing with God about your sin instead of redefining it, softening it, or comparing it. It is no longer about defending yourself, but about confessing honestly. No excuses. No spiritual bargaining.

I was reminded of this in a vivid way in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. What I saw was not hidden rebellion but planned rebellion. People openly indulging, not even pretending it was right, because they knew Ash Wednesday was coming. Sin now, confess later. Live how you want, then reset the conscience with a ritual.

That mindset exposes the danger of replacing repentance with religious scheduling. If sin can be planned because forgiveness is scheduled, the heart has not turned to God. It has only learned how to manage guilt.

God never designed confession as a license to sin in advance.

“The one who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain compassion.” (Proverbs 28:13, LSB)

Notice both words. Confesses and forsakes. Not confesses and repeats. Confessing means acknowledgment of your sin, and forsaking means not returning to it!

The danger of religious seasons is this: They can make us feel like we moved toward God when we only moved around Him.

Temporary sacrifice can soothe guilt without killing sin.

The Pharisees fasted often. They prayed publicly. They practiced visible devotion. Yet Jesus said their hearts were far from Him. Their problem was not a lack of religious activity. Their problem was a lack of repentance.

Repentance is personal.
Repentance is specific.
Repentance costs something.

It kills pride. It abandons secret sin. It turns from self-rule to Christ’s rule. It does not ask, “What can I remove for forty days?” It asks, “What must die today?”

Jesus described salvation this way:
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23, LSB)

The cross is not a symbolic inconvenience. It is execution. God is not asking for a seasonal inconvenience. He commands a decisive turning from sin to Him.

So, the real question during this season is not what you gave up.
It is whether you turned.

Did you confess what you have been protecting?
Did you forsake what you have been excusing?
Did you submit to Christ where you have been resisting Him?

Because God does not want a short-term adjustment.
He wants a new heart.

Repentance leads to life. Religious routine leads to comfort. Only one reconciles you to God.
Do not settle for a season of denial while keeping a lifetime of rebellion.

Repent, and live.

Soli Deo Glori,
Pastor Jody