You're Eating Less… But What Are You Giving More Of?

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice... to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?" — Isaiah 58:6–7

When we think about fasting, one of the first questions we tend to ask is:

"What am I giving up?" Will it be coffee? Social media? One meal a day? A particular food? I low-key chuckle when I hear some people panic around this, like a fasting in the church Whatsapp group is announced just after I placed my online weekly shop? For 40-day fast? Ahhhh lool.

Whilst these questions aren't wrong, I wonder if there's another question that deserves just as much attention:

As I'm consuming less, what should I be giving more of?

That question has been sitting with me for quite some time.

As I've journeyed through different seasons of fasting, I've noticed something practical.

When I'm intentionally eating less or choosing simpler meals, I often have a little more margin than usual. Sometimes that's extra money I would have spent on lunch. Sometimes it's extra time that would have been spent preparing meals. Sometimes it's simply more mental space because my focus has shifted from consuming to consecrating.

One day I found myself asking the Lord,

"What do You want me to do with what I've saved?"

That simple question changed how I viewed fasting.

Instead of seeing those resources as "left over," I began seeing them as an opportunity to reflect God's generosity.

There have been times I've withdrawn cash and quietly prayed,

"Lord, lead me to someone who needs this today."

Sometimes it has gone towards helping someone buy a meal.

Sometimes it has been toiletries for someone staying in temporary accommodation.

Sometimes it has simply been sitting with someone over a cup of tea, listening to their story.

Not because I felt obligated.

But because fasting had softened my heart to notice people I might otherwise have walked past.

That's what I love about Isaiah 58.

God doesn't rebuke His people because they were fasting.

He rebukes them because their fasting had become disconnected from compassion.

They were denying themselves food while overlooking people who were hungry.

They were practising religious discipline without reflecting God's heart.

The fast God delights in doesn't stop at personal devotion.

It overflows into justice. Into generosity. Into mercy. Into love.

Jesus echoed this same heart in Matthew 25 when He said,

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..."

Our love for God is often demonstrated in the way we love people.

Even Proverbs reminds us,

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done." (Proverbs 19:17)

What a beautiful thought.

Every act of generosity becomes an act of worship. This doesn't always have to look like giving money. Perhaps your fast creates more time. Could you spend some of it encouraging someone? Visiting someone who is lonely? Cooking for a new parent? Checking in on a friend who is grieving? Serving at church? Writing a handwritten note of encouragement? Maybe your fast has created more emotional capacity. Could you become more present with the people God has already placed in your life?

Biblical fasting was never intended to make us more self-focused.

It was always meant to make us more God-focused.

And when we become more God-focused, we naturally become more aware of the people He loves.

As I've reflected on this, I've started asking myself one question during every fast: Who is being blessed because I'm fasting?

Not because I'm trying to earn God's favour. Not because generosity replaces prayer. But because genuine fasting changes the posture of our hearts.

It teaches us to hold our resources with open hands.

To notice. To listen. To serve. To give.

Perhaps this week, instead of only asking, "Lord, what should I give up?"

Ask Him, "Lord, who can I bless because of what I've laid down?"

Because maybe the greatest testimony of your fast won't simply be what you refused to consume.

Maybe it will be the person who encountered the generosity of God because you chose to make room for Him.

Reflection

• What has your current fast created more of—time, money, attention or capacity?

• How might God be inviting you to steward those resources differently?

• Who could be encouraged, served or blessed because you've chosen to fast?

Prayer

Father, thank You that fasting is about so much more than what I choose to abstain from. Shape my heart to look more like Yours. Open my eyes to see those around me with compassion, and teach me to steward every resource You've entrusted to me—my time, my finances, my attention and my strength—for Your glory and the good of others. May my fasting overflow into generosity, mercy and love, so that others encounter Your kindness through my obedience. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Next in the series: What Does Fasting Reveal About Your Heart? Together we'll explore what surfaces when comfort is removed…

OZ x