Lent 2018
Name: June Lim
Lenten Commitment: Do QT every day and memorize Bible verses to find greater joy in the Gospel
Humans innately crave joy. Everything we work towards: love, success, and adventure is to ultimately satisfy our hunger for it. But this world can never completely satisfy us. The only one that can fill that void of loneliness and dissatisfaction in our hearts is Christ.
I learned this at a young age and gave up on trying to find true happiness in the world. I am only 15 years old, but I have already been disappointed by this world too many times to count. The friendships I have made, the vacations I have been on, and the good grades I got never truly made me feel happy. So I made it my goal to find real, genuine happiness in Jesus Christ. Ever since I heard about this joy that is greater than all of the joy I could find on the earth, I have wanted it so badly.
So I asked myself, how can I truly enjoy God and experience His incomparable love? The answer is the gospel. The gospel is what allows us to know more about who God is. And once we learn about the overwhelming amount of love and grace He has for us, our hearts will inevitably melt.
Therefore, my goal for this Lenten season is to spend time with God every day by doing QT and memorizing a Bible verse every day in order to familiarize myself with the gospel. I decided to memorize a verse every day because when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11), He overcame his temptations by reciting scripture. In the same way, I want to equip myself with the armor of God’s word so that whenever I get tempted, I will be able to fight it.
Additionally, my mom told me many times that when she feels sad, God encourages her by reminding her of scripture. I want to memorize these verses so that in my times of misery, God may comfort me in the same way.
Moreover, there were many times when my friends would come to me with their struggles, but I would not able to comfort them completely. Memorizing verses will allow me to share the comfort of Christ, which is so much greater than worldly sympathy.
Every day, I will identify a negative emotion I feel (loneliness, anger, guilt, etc.) and memorize a verse that addresses that emotion. It has only been a week into Lent, but I already came across so many amazing verses that have given me so much peace.
Last Wednesday night, I was so busy and stressed because I had to stay at school until 7 p.m. when I had two tests the next day. But then I found this passage from Matthew that assured me that I have nothing to worry about if I hold on to God: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33). These verses encouraged me to continue prioritizing God even when my school life is crazy because He is all I need. School can never make me truly happy, but God can.
I hope to continue memorizing verses even after Lent and truly experience the incredible joy that comes from learning about the beautiful love of God that transcends all understanding.
Editor’s note: June also wrote a Lent Reflection in 2017. To read that post, click here.
This post is a part of DSYG’s Lent Reflections series meant to educate and inspire readers on the season of Lent and its value in any Christian’s relationship with Christ. For more information on this series, click here.
To read more posts in this year’s series, click here.
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