Lent Reflection 2025 written by Rev Brian Hutton


Lent

2 Peter 1:5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

A few months ago, I had to take my car in for a MOT.
You may know the drill if you drive a car: engine check, brakes check, roadworthy check, tyres check. The period of Lent between Ash Wednesday and Easter could be described as our annual Spiritual M.O.T. Lent is a time to explore how we are doing spiritually, to examine ourselves and to check our levels of vibrancy and joy, to check our filters are clean (no lingering unforgiveness, cynicism or bitterness) and to check whether we have a renewed sense of the Oil of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
May I stretch the analogy a little further and invite us to perform a quick check of the following Four M.O.T. spiritual check points.

1.     Personal. Are we personally growing in faith, trust, and intimacy with the Creator? Are we learning what it means to live with God and hear God through His word? (2 Peter 1:5 Make every effort to add to your faith…) 
But this alone is not enough. Private prayer and private morality is not enough. And so, we need to also check:

2.     People. Are we growing in your trust and intimacy of friendship with others? Are we being drawn deeper into community rather than further isolation? Are we exploring ways to forgive others and let go of some hurts? Are we serving the community, regularly being generous? (2 Peter 1:5 Make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self-control...)
But this is also not enough. You and I can be people of prayer and be open to care for the community, but we can do all of this with hard calloused grumbling religious hearts. We need to discover the right energy; and maintain our warmth of heart. And so, we check our levels of:  

3.     Peace. Do we have a sense of peace and content in our lives? Do we have peace with what has happened in our lives and with what we worry one day might happen? Do we experience the joy of the Lord? (2 Peter 1:5 Make every effort to add to your faith…perseverance and godliness…)  
And finally, we must check our levels of:

4.     Purpose Are we finding purpose and meaning in what we do with our lives and with whom we connect? Are we discovering God at work through us and in our daily lives. Has God got space to ushering in His Kingdom values through our lives? (2 Peter 1:5 Make every effort to add to your faith…mutual affection and love).

Best thing about the Spiritual M.O.T. is that it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Rev Brian Hutton


A lent study written by Rev Brian for personal or group use can be found here . Please feel free to download and share with friends or family