Practicing Denial in a Culture of Excess

A Lenten Reflection

picture by Annie Spratt

In a culture where indulgence is marketed as the path to happiness, practicing denial feels wildly counterintuitive. We are constantly told that more is better—more food, more comfort, more entertainment, more convenience. But the paradox of our age is this: the more we indulge, the less satisfied we become.

Lent offers us a different way. Not as punishment, but as invitation. It teaches us that contentment doesn’t come from saying yes to everything, but from discovering the quiet joy of simplicity, surrender, and restraint. In self-denial, we begin to see more clearly. We notice the presence of God. We learn that the ache we feel inside isn’t for more stuff, but for more of Him.

Our human nature resists this. We long for an easier way to the cross—one that doesn’t cost quite so much. We look for shortcuts, convenient paths around sacrifice. But Lent whispers the hard truth: those easier paths don’t lead to joy. They are often the very barriers that keep us from it.

To deny ourselves in this season is not to diminish our humanity, but to reclaim it. In a world shouting “Have more! Do more! Be more!”, Lent invites us to quietly follow Jesus in saying, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” And there, in the shadow of the cross, we find what we’ve been chasing all along—not excess, but peace. Not indulgence, but freedom.