This post was written for my church’s series on fasting. Each week of Lent, the church focuses on a different item for fasting (food, clothes, waste, etc.). During the week focused on clothing, church members are encouraged to fast from clothing in some shape or fashion. Examples include wearing only two outfits the entire week, cleaning out unused clothing and donating it, or fasting from buying new clothes for the duration of Lent. I personally encourage fasting from buying fast, exploitative fashion, not just during Lent, but as a lifelong goal. Read on to find out more!

We tend to envision fasting as a practice of recentering our hearts around God rather than some other object (in this case, clothing). We often treat clothing as an idol, coping mechanism, and giver of self-worth, when God should be those things instead. Working on our personal relationship with clothing and God is an important thing to do this week, but in this reflection I want to focus on a different aspect of fasting: A change in our hearts that results in social action.

I’m not going to lie: This reflection discusses difficult things, like the role we personally play in human trafficking. But if there’s any group willing to dig deep and not turn away from hard topics, it’s my church family. So let’s jump in!