the fattest of tuesdays

I've been thinking about how I can live in conscious pursuit of becoming more like Christ.  We're created to be his representatives, right?  Examples of Jesus.  

And whatever you do or say, 
do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks through him to the God father.

Colossians 3:17

So shouldn't we constantly push ourselves to become more and more like him in specific ways?  It's easy [sometimes a little too easy] to get down on ourselves when we feel we've failed at portraying Christ.  I mean, it's not a simple thing to do.  To encourage myself, I've decided to focus on the fruits of the Spirit for a while.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: 

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

Begin: Lent.

Today marks the first day of Lent.  Now I'm not Catholic, but I like Lent because I like a good challenge.  I like to push myself and I like to practice relying on the Lord in times of temptation or struggle.  Not to mention, it's a great opportunity to work on self-control.  That being said, this Lent will be a little bit different than the Lents of the past.

Self-control is a HUGE playing piece during Lent.  If you decide for the days of Lent you will give up chocolate but lack the self-control to stop unwrapping Hershey's Kisses and placing them in your mouth, your 40 days won't be so successful.  For everyone partaking in Lent, it's a definite chance to practice self-control.  But what about the other fruits?

Here's the game-changer for Lent 2013 for me: I'm incorporating the other fruits as well.

I've decided to give up sweets for Lent [which stinks a LOT since Valentine's Day is 2 days of fierce temptation right at the beginning. . . disclaimer: I had a very fat Tuesday baking cookies for my students].   

sugar cookies.  frosting.  sprinkles.  wine.
some of my most favorite things.

I came home from work to find these on the counter.  My sweet husband gave me Valentine's candy early since I won't be able to enjoy them on Thursday.  He's the best.

I'm not a serial sweet eater, but I do enjoy some treats every now and again.  Obviously, I'll constantly focus on self-control, but I'll be adding to the other fruits .  [Byron says joy might be a struggle without my sweets, haha] To embrace Valentine's day, this week I'm choosing 'love' as my sweet-accomplice.  

I'm hoping that by Easter I'm seen as a better example of Christ, and through my actions and words others are able to have a better understanding of how great he is.

What about you -- did you give up anything for Lent?