We know the routine: “It’s Lent so I have to decide what I’m going to do or give up this year.” We sometimes focus our efforts on “accomplishing” our Lenten penance. We try to summon the will-power to make it about six weeks without chocolate or TV or whatever it is we’ve decided to go without.

Naturally, if we succeed we feel a certain sense of accomplishment.

This is not a bad thing. It means that I can still direct my will a certain way at least for a time. But perhaps in our moral lives we’d be better served to focus on something more than accomplishing our Lenten sacrifice — perhaps we’d be better served to first ask the question “What is my Lenten sacrifice going to accomplish in me?”

Being made in the image and likeness of God means, of course, that we have free will. This enables us to both make moral decisions and be responsible for them. But like any part of us, for it to be able to accomplish that for which it exists, it must be kept healthy and in shape.

It is helpful to think of our free will much like a muscle in our body. If I give it what it needs (exercise and proper nutrition), it can perform well and grow strong. If I don’t, the opposite effects come about.
So what does my free will need? The answer, of course, is to be exercised and used properly. This is one reason why Lent can be such an important time of year for us as Christians. It is a ready-made, Church-endorsed, proven, training program for my spiritual life — including the training my free will needs to stay healthy and perform well when I need it to.

When I choose to fast, for example, I’m training my will. My normal desires for food or drink are no longer in complete control. Instead, I’m allowing my decision to fast to be the determining voice within me that directs my choices. I’ve subordinated my desires to my choice to fast. My free will makes this possible.

The more I do this, the stronger my free will becomes. The stronger it becomes, the more it is directed by my conscious choices, and the less it is directed by the voice of my immediate desires.

Of course the opposite is also true, if I’m constantly allowing my immediate desires to run the show, then it becomes increasingly difficult to resist their voice when they show up.

We can begin to see why the season of Lent plays such an important role for us. It reminds us of our ongoing need to develop the tools necessary to live the Christian faith. And as a bonus, we’re joined in our efforts by other Christians who are doing similar things.

It becomes obvious how important this reality is if I truly want to live the moral component to my Christianity. The more I am able to direct my will — sometimes even in contrast to my immediate desires — the more I am able to lead a truly moral and virtuous life. I can grow in my ability to resist any number of different temptations. I’m better able to do the good things I feel called to do.

Why? Because my will is more directed by my choice, than led by my desires. With this understanding, we can return to the question: “What is my Lenten sacrifice going to accomplish in me?”

Is it in fact a means to strengthen my will, and so enable me to live a more moral and virtuous life? Not only for a few weeks, but long-term? Does my Lenten goal go beyond Easter and truly arm me with what I need to better live a moral life the rest of the year?

The beauty of free will is that we get to choose the answer to those questions.