We’ve come to the end of another difficult passage in 1 Corinthians. So, for this final day, we’re going to take a step back. Chapter 6 demands a lot from us. It asks us to act in a way that contradicts everything the world stands for.
That’s what it means to be a Christian. It requires us to make tough decisions— decisions that look foolish to the world. It looks like not cheating other people out of money. It’s deciding against having an affair. It means getting help with our porn addiction.
It’s one thing to talk about what Paul’s asking us to do in this passage. It’s another thing entirely to actually do it.
So as this week closes, we’re going to try to put Paul’s words into action. To do it, we’re going to use one of the spiritual disciplines, which is just a fancy phrase for practices that help us grow closer to God. The one we’ll be using is fasting.
Fasting is a way of denying ourselves something we normally enjoy—such as food, TV, or social media—for a short period of time. Jennie mentioned fasting in her teaching. She said it should be a joyful choice we make. It’s only for a little bit of time, but it’s a way we can refocus our priorities.
If we’re honest, fasting is one more thing that looks crazy to the world. No one willingly chooses to give up something they see as essential to living. But we’re going to give it a try as a way of living out the risky, backward-to-the-world life.
Pick one thing to give up. Maybe it’s the internet or desserts or a few meals. Try avoiding that thing or habit for one whole day. Whenever you feel the urge to eat a piece of cake or scroll through Facebook, pray instead. Ask God to give you the strength to say no. Tell him what you’re feeling. Thank Him for 3 things he’s given you. Use your hunger pains to help reorient your mind toward God.
Then come back to this thread and write about your experience. [If you are competing in the Bible Reading Challenge, you won’t need to text/post until Sunday night]
What did giving up your one thing feel like?
What was difficult for you?
What did you learn?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
Gave up TikTok was being fed a lot of bad things on social media, made me lazy, made me less productive
I tried giving up social media for the weekend. I emphasize try as I occasionally had to catch myself slipping into opening up the app and scrolling it automatically and then forcing myself to stop and close the app. It was difficult to not immediately start doom scrolling through social media whenever there was free downtime as I would usually do to make myself feel busy. Instead, I have to teach myself to restrain from having something to do during those open pockets of free time since it’s become ingrained into my being. I’m not sure why but I have to always have something to do whether it’s scrolling on my phone or even twiddling my thumbs. I learned that it’s really hard for me to just sit still and have the ability to have nothing to do otherwise I feel uncomfortable or bored. We are creatures of habit is something I’ve concluded from this weekend “fast”. Being independent of activities is a hard thing for me, but I learned that it’s something I need to achieve if I want to be truly free of this world and it’s habit-forming culture.