We have only a few days of Lent left. Many of you adopted disciplines or gave some thing up. I hope that has gone very well for you. If not, you can still benefit from the experience. I have discovered that there is as much learning to be done in reflecting upon your Lenten experience afterwards as there is during it. This is particularly true if you had a bad experience or feel you failed. I highly encouraged you this weekend or on Easter day to reflect on the season of Lent and journal about your experience. Journaling will push you to clarify what you have learned.
Here are 10 questions to consider.
- On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your fulfillment of your commitment?
- Was your commitment too easy, too hard, are about right?
- What factors seemed to make the difference between whether you had successful days or bad days?
- What do you wish someone could have told you before you tried this?
- What are at least three lessons you learned?
- How has this experience affected your relationship with God or your discipleship?
- Would you do it again and why would you or wouldn’t you do it again?
- How would you benefit from continuing to do this?
- What would be the biggest obstacle(s) for you making this a regularly part of your life?
- Now that Lent is over what next action step could you take that would bring joy to God?
For those of you who struggled or failed to keep your commitment, consider these 6 questions:
- Did you have a realistic goal?
- Did you have a written goal?
- Did you use triggers to help stay consistent?
- Did you tell anyone about it so that you had support and/or accountability?
- Did you track your progress in anyway?
- What 3 changes could you make that would have helped you succeed?
I hope these questions are helpful. I want to reiterate the value of writing out your answers to these questions. If you don’t, then you will leave 50% of your learning and growth behind you. So take even just a few minutes, grab a piece of paper and jot down some answers to these questions. I will be posting a reflection upon my own experience next week.
Blessings from the Practical Disciple during this Holy Week.