Self-denial...

I listened to a man talk about the Lenten season this morning. He does a bracket with saints and people vote their favorites. He described Lent as a season of "self-denial." Aaaannnndddd that got me thinking for today…

We don't do self-denial well in this culture. We want what we want, when we want it. We hate to wait.
When we practice self-denial during Lent, we focus far more on what we give up than on the God for whom we give things up.

What is the value of self-denial? Should we learn to accept "no" or "not now?" Is there value in denying our immediate wants? What do we gain by "losing?"

I do think we tend to self-define by what we have or can get. How do we re-define by what we don't get or by what we give up?

Today I seem to have questions but no answers. So I will give up answers for Lent today. Maybe tomorrow I'll figure more things out…