Can someone give up Lent for Lent?

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Can someone give up Lent for Lent?

No, because what you choose to give up for Lent is something that is habit that you enjoy and that is maybe not very good for you or that you indulge in perhaps too much (or a vice), and Lent is not that.

I've joked about that every time someone brings up Lent. I was brought up jewish, and on one of the holidays we are supposed to fast. So when young, I figured it meant you had to eat really fast so nobody would see you. I got caught once and it was better explained. I still used my original method until I got old enough to say "I'm eating anyway".

What about giving up

1. Badmouthing others
2. Dwelling on negative habits

I celebrate Easter for secular reasons have never bothered giving up anything for lent.

I heard you're supposed to give up things you like for Lent. Seems like every religion just wants you to be unhappy or feel guilty for trivial things in order to get into Heaven.

Technically, someone could give up Lent if they are intent on giving up being a Catholic.

I live an extremely disciplined lifestyle believe it or not and I'm not very kind to myself at the best of times so I really wouldn't see that giving anything up would be advantageous to me whether it be lent or any other occasion

But you can give it up if you wish I suppose

Sorry about the Trumpian block capitals, but for some reason I can't get the italics feature to work, and I've forgotten the BBCode for it.

I'm not sure that "giving up Lent for Lent" can logically be done. I mean, if you give up Lent, you're not really giving it up FOR Lent, because Lent is about sacrifice, and you can't really sacrifice an act of sacrifice, you can only perform a sacrifice or not perform it. Giving up Lent AGAINST Lent would make more logical sense. I suppose you could TELL people "I'm giving up Lent for Lent" as a kind of joke, which seems quite whimsical to me. Jokes don't have to be highly rational, and I like the idea of poking a bit of fun at the idea of sacrifice, especially as an answer to anybody who asks the invasive question "What are you giving up for Lent?"

In case you get any flak from holier-than-thou types, it's possible to explain your position without denying the validity of Christianity in general:

"Many Christians prefer not to observe this pre-Easter tradition because it smacks of religious duty. Christ said of the Pharisees, "They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden” (Matthew 23:4). He often criticized the Pharisees for disheartening the Jews with demands that missed the heart of God. Christ did not establish the tradition of Lent as a commandment for followers to observe. Whether or not to participate is a matter between the individual and God."

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holid ... -lent.html

It's a polite way of telling them to mind their own business.

Me, I can't give up Lent at all because I never adopted it in the first place. Nobody ever asked me to do Lent, and although I've found out what it's supposed to be, I don't see any point, especially as I'm secular. Even if I wasn't, I still wouldn't like the idea of sacrificing if it's not going to do any obvious good. Some say it brings you closer to God, but I don't see how that would happen even if he existed. If it's something like giving up a harmful thing such as junk food, that's fine, but why not just give up junk food regardless of the time of year? That way you get more freedom to control the degree of the change, and you can pick a time when you're feeling ready to give it a try.

I can give up coffee for Lent. I can give up funny comments that I make about jaywalkers for Lent. I can give up sugary bubblegum for Lent.

Is it lent now

In the late Middle Ages (prior to the Protestant Reformation) German priests sent samples of German beer across the Alps down to Rome to humbly ask if drinking it was "okay for Lent". Since the Italian priests in Rome had never tasted bitter German beer before they....naturally thought it was the most vile thing they had ever tasted. So they assured the Teutonic Catholics of the north that "drinking this stuff is as good as wearing a hair shirt, or self flagellation with chains so its...just RIGHT for Lent! Its mortification of the flesh!"

Haha good story that

If the person was observing Lent for the other 325 days a year, and it was a hardship or sacrifice for them to give it up, I suppose they could give up Lent for Lent.