As we move through the season of Lent, I was recently thinking once again about why we make the effort to “give up things” during this season of penance. How can practices like skipping dessert, staying off social media, or abstaining from alcohol help us to grow in holiness?

The truth is that the value of such practices depends very much on our motivations. In a Scripture reading that we hear each Ash Wednesday, the Lord challenges us:

Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. (Joel 2:12 – 13)

The command to “rend your hearts” deserves some explanation: In the Jewish tradition, tearing your clothes was an outward sign of mourning and distress over sin. By commanding us to “rend our hearts,” the Lord is telling us that our interior repentance is even more important than the external signs of penance. God challenges us to try to acknowledge and tear through our vices, so that we can draw closer to him.

Psalm 51, which is recited frequently both in the Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours, makes a similar point. The Lord desires not so much our many sacrifices, but interior repentance and humility:

For in sacrifice you take no delight;
burnt offering from me would not please you.
My sacrifice to God, a broken spirit;
a broken and humbled heart,
O God, you will not spurn (Psalm 51: 18 – 19).

I don’t know about you, but I certainly have been guilty at times of offering Lenten sacrifices with pride, not humility. When I have skipped meals or avoided treats, there have been times when I’ve patted myself on the back a little too much. Rather than turning to God in my brokenness and acknowledging my need for his mercy, I’ve sometimes given up things as an exercise of willpower, a way to prove that I’ve got myself together spiritually.

Like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable (Luke 18:9 – 14), it’s as if I’ve sometimes said to myself, “Thank God I’m really holy, just like I am supposed to be! I fast and sacrifice so much more than other people!” If our hearts are not humble, then our fasting and penances are of little value. As Jesus said, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

If we offer our Lenten sacrifices with humility, however, they have great value in the eyes of the Lord. When we give up things for the right reason, it’s as if we are saying to God, “I need you so much more than I need this dessert, this snack, or that television show!” When we offer our Lenten sacrifices on the altar of humility, they are very pleasing to the Lord.

The final verse of Psalm 51 affirms that God would delight in the sacrifices of the Jewish people when they approached him with humble hearts:

Then you will delight in right sacrifice,
burnt offerings wholly consumed.
Then you will be offered young bulls on your altar (Psalm 51:21).

As we continue the season of Lent, then, let us all renew our efforts to offer our sacrifices for the right reasons. Whether you’re sacrificing chocolate, social media, or some other good thing, do so with an awareness of your need for God, rather than a way to prove yourself to him. Even if you haven't made any Lenten resolutions yet, it's not too late to give something up - for the right reasons, of course.