Family Discussion: Ash Wednesday

The following article is designed to help parents dialogue about a current event with their children. It was written at a 7th grade reading level.

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Lent—not to be confused with lint, the fuzz in your belly button—began yesterday on Ash Wednesday.

It’s a major season on the Christian calendar. Christmas gets a lot of hype these days (for a good reason). But throughout the history of the Christian church, Easter has been the most important celebration of the year. And just like Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas, Lent is a season of preparation for Easter.

“Lent” comes from the Old English word for spring, the season when days lengthen, and everything becomes new. It’s a 40-day period of repentance (turning away from sin) and remembering and practicing Jesus’s humility to get ready for Easter’s renewal. Christians have been practicing Lent since the early church.

Why 40 days? The number 40 reflects biblical moments of preparation and testing. Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4), Israel wandered 40 years in the desert (Joshua 5:6), Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34), and the flood’s rain lasted 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:12).

But if you count the days from February 18th to April 5th (Easter this year), it’ll add up to 46… That’s because Sundays don’t count. Sunday is always a celebration of the resurrection, so God’s people take a break from repentance to remember Jesus’s victory.

Lent typically involves fasting from a food or habit (like TV or social media) to limit distractions or highlight idols. But it’s not just about giving things up. Lent also invites believers into practices like prayer, worship, generosity, and Scripture reading.

Ash Wednesday (aka The “Day of Ashes”) kicks the season off. Historically, believers receive ashes on their foreheads as a symbol of grief and death. The ash is spread in the shape of a cross as a reminder that Jesus has ultimately defeated death.

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Whether Lent has a place on your calendar or not, practices of humility are nonnegotiables in the life of believers. How are you humbly drawing near to God?

REFLECT

What gospel lesson can be taught through this story?

Observing Lent is not commanded in the Bible, but repentance is. Colossians 2:16 warns against passing judgment on people based on what religious traditions they engage in. But practices like repentance, confession, prayer, and fasting—the cornerstones of Lent—are commanded in Scripture (James 4:7-10; 5:16; Romans 12:11-12; Matthew 6:16-18). Just like the New Year might give a person renewed focus on a goal like improving fitness, a special season of focus on spiritual disciplines can help us recalibrate for healthy rhythms of engaging in them all year long.

If you have been neglecting habits of prayer and humility or find yourself too distracted to enter God’s presence, Lent could be an opportunity to re-engage alongside other believers and seek the Lord.

What might my kids misunderstand about this story?

Lent is not just a Catholic tradition. While the majority of Lent observers in America today are Catholic, the season of humble heart preparation for Easter dates back to the early church. Believers from many different traditions throughout history and around the world have used Lent to draw near to the Lord.

It’s biblical to be wary of religious traditions that don’t engage the heart. When we’re just going through the motions in spiritual practices, Jesus’s solution isn’t to ditch the discipline. His call is to focus on our Father, aligning our hearts with what our bodies are doing (Matthew 6:1-18; 23:1-28).

Lent becomes twisted when it’s a performance for others or an attempt to earn salvation. But when spiritual discipline helps us quiet distractions and humble ourselves before God, it’s valuable training in holiness.

RESPOND

• If you plan to engage in Lent, discuss your plan and how you hope it will help you focus your attention on Jesus. If you don’t engage in Lent, discuss a practical step you can take to grow in confession, repentance, or prayer.

• Memorize James 4:6, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (CSB).

• Pray for eyes to see places of sin in your life and the courage and strength to cut sin out (Matthew 5:29-30).

Credit: Decaf (The Pour Over for Families). "Kicking Off Lent." February 19, 2026.