One-Minute Lenten Devotional
John 16:8: And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness
and self-control.
While Lent focuses on the Jesus-story and the reality of the cross, Lent is also a season to magnify the Spirit’s work in convicting us of our sins. The Church season of Lent is only beneficial when the Spirit works within us to produce fruits and virtues. And since the Spirit is conforming us to the image of the Son through these virtues, thus we have a calling to fight in harmony with the Spirit. In short, Lent is the harmony of the Spirit’s work with Spirit-empowered saints.
Just as the Lenten journey was a road of struggle, prayer, and communion for our Lord, so too, our walk to bear and reflect such fruits will demand struggle, prayer and communion with our Lord. Our entire lives can be summed up in warfare. Lent is a reminder to take sin as the Christian’s constant battleground. These next thirty-six days accentuate that journey stressing our need to repent of not loving, having joy, being a peace-maker, and all other necessary fruits of the Third Person of the Godhead.
Lent is Spirit-centered. None of us can ever expect to gain from fasting and building godly habits apart from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.