Crumple the Habit: A 47-Day Lent Journey Through the Fruit of the Spirit - A Different Way to Do Lent
- Branch To Hope Team
- Feb 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 18
Releasing Habits & Growing the Fruit of the Spirit
Every year, as the Lent season approaches, the familiar question begins to circulate:
“What are you giving up?”
For many of us, the answers come quickly — coffee, sugar, social media, a favorite snack, late-night scrolling. These sacrifices can be meaningful, and for generations they have served as reminders to depend more fully on Christ.
But what if this year we went deeper?
What if Lent wasn’t only about temporarily removing something from our lives, but about allowing God to gently reshape the patterns that shape us? What if instead of simply giving something up, we intentionally released a habit that no longer reflects the Fruit of the Spirit?
Giving Up Meaningless Habits
This year, we are approaching Lent with a different focus.
Rather than centering our attention only on external sacrifices, we are turning our hearts toward the habits that quietly form our character, habits that may not reflect the Fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22–23:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Over the next several weeks, we will gently ask:
Where has impatience crept in?
Where has joy been replaced by distraction?
Where has peace been traded for control?
Where have unkind reactions become routine?
These are not questions of shame. They are invitations to awareness.
Lent becomes a sacred space to notice the habits that no longer serve God’s work in us, and to release them so the Spirit can cultivate something new.
When we give up meaningless habits, we make room for meaningful transformation.
Introducing the 1:11 Lent Journey
To guide this season, we are walking through a 47-day 1:11 Lent Journey centered on daily rhythm, intentional pause, and the Fruit of the Spirit.
Each day at 1:11, wherever we are, we pause. Not for performance. Not for perfection. But for presence.
At 1:11 we return to God’s presence, breathe deeply, and allow the Holy Spirit to gently form us. Each day focuses on one Fruit of the Spirit, paired with a Color of the Day to anchor the practice in something tangible.
We wear the color. We walk the Word. We release the habit. We practice the fruit.
Small, faithful rhythms practiced consistently begin to shape who we are becoming.
Why 47 Days Instead of 40?
Traditionally, Lent is counted as 40 days, with Sundays excluded. Those Sundays serve as celebration days within the season.
However, for the 1:11 Lent Journey, we are choosing to continue straight through to Easter Sunday, creating a full 47-day rhythm.
Why?
Because our journey follows a continuous Color of the Day pattern and Fruit of the Spirit focus. Skipping Sundays would interrupt the habit-building rhythm we are intentionally cultivating.
Spiritual formation does not pause once a week. Neither does habit formation.
By including Sundays, we maintain a steady, consistent pattern that carries us all the way to Resurrection Sunday. The goal is not rigid discipline, it is gentle consistency.
Consistency creates change.
And resurrection life is often formed in the quiet faithfulness of daily practice.
The Crumple the Habit Movement
This year, we are also introducing a simple, tangible act of surrender called Crumple the Habit.
Each day during Lent, we invite you to:
Write down the habit you are releasing.
Hold it in your hand.
Pray over it.
Crumple the paper.
Throw it away.
Pause at 1:11 and practice the Fruit of the Day.
It is a visible reminder that surrender is active. We are not just thinking about change — we are physically releasing what no longer aligns with who God is forming us to be.
When you crumple that paper, you are saying, “God, I release this to You.”
Not out of condemnation. Not out of self-criticism. But out of trust.
And in the space that habit once occupied, the Spirit begins to grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The 1:11 Habit Tracker & Devotional Calendar
To support this journey, we created a complete 47-Day Habit Tracker and Devotional Calendar.
Inside, you will find:
Daily Fruit of the Spirit focus
Scripture Whisper for each date
Devotional reflection
“Live It Out” habit practice
Guided 1:11 Pause prompt
Reflection space
Progress tracker
Reminder that progress matters more than perfection
This is not a checklist to complete. It is a rhythm to return to.
If you miss a day, you begin again.If you struggle with the same habit twice, you begin again. If growth feels slow, you begin again.
Lent is not about flawless performance. It is about daily formation through faithful habits.
An Invitation
As we prepare for Lent to begin this Wednesday, we invite you to step into this season differently.
Not simply asking, “What am I giving up?” But asking: “What habit is God inviting me to release, and what fruit is He growing in its place?”
If your heart longs for a Lent that goes deeper than surface sacrifice, one that gently reshapes daily patterns and aligns you with the Fruit of the Spirit, we would love for you to join us.
🌿 Join Branch To Hope on the 1:11 Lent Journey, pausing daily to grow in the Fruit of the Spirit.
Explore the full journey and sign up here: branchtohopecod.my.canva.site/bth11lentjourney
Wear the COLOR. Walk the WORD. Crumple the Habit. Pause at 1:11.
Let the Holy Spirit do the forming.
Easter will come. And by then, perhaps we will not just have given something up, we will have become someone newly rooted in the Fruit of the Spirit!
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