Lent is the forty day period leading up to Easter Sunday, starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on the morning of Easter. Christians practice Lent by either adding or removing something in their life to, as Storyhill Pastor Michael Flake said, “think our lives to thicken our relationship with God.”

Lent has Biblical roots in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 where Jesus is led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and fasts for forty days and forty nights while being tempted by the devil. He is tempted three different ways yet each time he remains firm in his beliefs.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only,” Matthew 4:10, NIV.

The first formal mention of the practice of Lent was at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD but it is believed that some form of fasting leading up to Easter was observed by Christians since the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And while people don’t actually fast the whole forty days, many people do choose to cut out challenging habits and big “idols” in their life that take their focus off of God.

“I have deleted Instagram for Lent and I am doing it because I want to recenter my life on God and Instagram was taking too much of my time and was a big distraction,” Conner Shelton (‘25) said. “Instead of going on my phone all the time, I can focus on my life and what God has given me and not what social media says my life should be and what I should have to make my life ‘successful’.”

In contrast, some people find it more beneficial to add to their life. People will make it a priority to create positive habits such as reading their Bible daily or praying before they go to bed.

“I wanted to cut out the noise and unnecessary entertainment in my life. I feel like I always had something in my ear like music or a YouTube video or social media and I wanted to cut them out and have quiet in my life instead of always distracting my brain,” Tate Bruns (‘26) said. “During this quiet time I put on reading a devotional and listening to only Christian music.”

More than simply creating a strong willpower, Christians see Lent as a time to cultivate a relationship with God and grow stronger in faith. Each time the desire to go against what you have set out to do for Lent is strong, give it to God and let it remind you of the reason why you are doing it: Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection three days later.

“Lent is a time to refocus your life around God and cut away the unnecessary distractions of this world,” Shelton said.