What Did Jesus Say About Fasting?
Fasting or abstaining from food
and drink, and depriving ourselves from some of the comforts of
everyday life for a season, ought to be a voluntary act on the part
of the christian. Its' purpose ought to be to purify our body, mind
and soul, and express our humility before God for his goodness to us.
Only God needs to be aware of our fasting. It is not necessary for
us to sound a trumpet and broadcast to the world the fact that we are
denying ourselves through fasting to draw nearer to God. God sees
the motives of our heart and he will reward us accordingly. We do
not need to receive recognition from men.
Jesus spoke of some of the
hypocritical Pharisees who when they fasted, disfigured their faces,
and went about with a sad countenance in sack cloth and ashes, so
that they would receive recognition of men for their fasting and
humility before God.
Jesus said: “Moreover when ye
fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast, verily
I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou when thou fastest
anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men
to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6: 16-18.
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