50 Bible Verses and Quotes for Shrove Tuesday
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While you may first think of pancakes and fatty foods when someone mentions Shrove Tuesday, there is more to this day than gorging before the Lenten fast kicks in.
What Is Shrove Tuesday?
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, which begins Lent. On Ash Wednesday, Christians will put ashes on their foreheads and start a fast that continues until Holy Saturday, the penultimate day of Holy Week. Christians will fast from various things, but the most traditional options are to forego meat (except for fish) or fatty foods. Some Christians will fast from food as much as possible, getting by on small amounts of vegetables and water.
Because Shrove Tuesday is the last day before many Christians fast, they may eat a large amount. One tradition is to eat pancake, a fatty food containing butter and other items that must be avoided during Lent. Consequently, some call the day “Pancake Tuesday” or “Fat Tuesday.” Done poorly, this can become an excuse for gluttony. Used properly, it can be a time of celebration before we transition into the sobriety of Lent.
It’s hard to say when Christians began celebrating Shrove Tuesday. Lent is mentioned at the Council of Nicaea, so the practice of eating extra before Lenten fasting could have been around in ancient times. However, the word “shrove” means to be shriven—to have a priest or other religious hear your confession, absolve you of guilt and prescribe penance. If you read “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in college, you may remember the guilty narrator looking for a hermit who will “shrieve my soul.” Shrove Tuesday has often been a time for eating before Lent, but it has also been a time when Christians will confess sins as they move into Lent.
Hope Bolinger observes that the practice of being shriven before Ash Wednesday goes back at least to the Anglo-Saxons, if not earlier. That puts Shrove Tuesday as early as the medieval period, probably with precursors going back a couple of centuries. Mardi Gras takes place on Shrove Tuesday and probably has roots in pagan festivals. However, it became a part of Catholic pre-Lent celebrations at some point in the medieval period or earlier.
Depending on your denomination’s practices or family traditions, Shrove Tuesday can be a time for confession, celebration, or both. The Bible encourages us to be joyful and celebrate things without committing gluttony or debauchery. The Bible also encourages us to admit our sins, confessing to him and each other.
May these Bible verses and quotes about noted Christian thinkers give you encouragement and something to think about this Shrove Tuesday.
Use our 40-Day Devotional Guide to lead you in prayer and scripture reading through the Lenten Season!
10 Bible Verses about Confession for Shrove Tuesday
Whatever our denomination background is, we are called to confess our sins to God and (wisely) admit our mistakes to our fellow believers. If we are leaders in the church, we may also need to confess our mistakes publicly.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” Mark 1:5
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:5
“When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.” Leviticus 5:5
“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.” Daniel 9:3-5
“I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” Psalm 38:18
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Acts 3:19
“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
Further Reading: Bible Verses about Confession
6 Christian Quotes about Confession for Shrove Tuesday
“And second, the Christian faith calls for an open and voluntary confession of our wrongs, whenever we are wrong. This too is challenging and it may certainly be embarrassing for anyone who has to do it, but it is in fact an act of moral courage. For in confession we are called to do what no human being does naturally and easily: to go on record against ourselves.”—Os Guinness, Renaissance
“The one counsel concerning sin is, to bring it daily to the only One who can take it away—God Himself. You should learn that one of the greatest privileges of a child of God is—the confession of sin. It is only the holiness of God that can consume sin; through confession I must hand over my sin to God, lay it down in God, get quit of it to God, cast it into the fiery oven of God’s holy love which burns against sin like a fire. God, yes, God Himself, and He alone, takes away sin.”—Andrew Murray, “The Confession of Sin”
“Wherever there is true repentance for sin, the penitent freely confesses his guilt to Him, against whom he has sinned. This is described in Psalms 32:3-6; compare 1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13. Such confession may be made either silently, or, as in Daniel 9:19, orally; it may be general, as in Psalms 51, or particular, as when some special sin is recognized; it may even extend to what has not been discovered, but which is believed to exist because of recognized inner depravity (Psalms 19:12), and thus include the state as well as the acts of sin (Romans 7:18).”—H.E. Jacobs, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
“…and that with a confession and acknowledgment of sin and unworthiness; all this is agreeable to the will of God; it is well pleasing in his sight, what glorifies him, and is but our reasonable service.”—John Gill, Commentary on Psalm 26:7
“The highest are not too high to need confession: the lowest are not too low to be reached by God’s requirement in this matter. Kings in their palaces and poor men in their cottages,—preachers and hearers,—teachers and scholars,—landlords and tenants,—masters and servants, —all, all are alike summoned in the Bible to confession. None are so moral and respectable that they need not confess that they have sinned. All are sinners in thought, word, and deed, and all are commanded to acknowledge their transgressions. Every knee ought to bow, and every tongue ought to confess to God.”—John Charles Ryle, “Confession”
“It is very difficult to bring sinful man humbly to accept free mercy, with a full confession of his sins and self-condemnation. But the true and only way to peace of conscience, is, to confess our sins, that they may be forgiven; to declare them that we may be justified. Although repentance and confession do not merit the pardon of transgression, they are needful to the real enjoyment of forgiving mercy. And what tongue can tell the happiness of that hour, when the soul, oppressed by sin, is enabled freely to pour forth its sorrows before God, and to take hold of his covenanted mercy in Christ Jesus!”—Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalm 32
Further Reading: What Is the Biblical Way to Confess to One Another?
10 Bible Verses about Celebration and Hospitality for Shrove Tuesday
As important as it is consider our sins and live well for God, it is also important that Christians take time to rejoice and enjoy the good things that God has given us.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2
“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9
“…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:4
“The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” Psalm 118:24
“Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Romans 14:6
“Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.” Psalm 149:5
“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:32
“Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.” Proverbs 31:7
“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.” Ecclesiastes 9:7
Further Reading: Hospitality Bible Verses
7 Christian Quotes about Celebration for Shrove Tuesday
“Food itself is not what connects us at a deeper level, but it’s often the centerpiece around which relationships are built.”—Meg Bucher, “What Is the Significance of Food in the Christian Life?”
“It is central to Christian living that we should celebrate the goodness of creation, ponder its present brokenness, and, insofar as we can, celebrate in advance the healing of the world, the new creation itself. Art, music, literature, dance, theater, and many other expressions of human delight and wisdom, can all be explored in new ways.”—N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
“If any one asks the question, How can I be a happy Christian? our Lord’s answer is very simple: ‘These things,’ about the Vine and the Branches, ‘I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be fulfilled.’ You cannot have My joy without My life. Abide in Me, and let Me abide in you, and My joy will be in you. All healthy life is a thing of joy and beauty; live undividedly the Branch life; you will have His joy in full measure.”—Andrew Murray, “Joy”
“It is well, my beloved, to proceed from feast to feast; again festal meetings, again holy vigils arouse our minds, and compel our intellect to keep vigil unto contemplation of good things. Let us not fulfill these days like those that mourn, but, by enjoying spiritual food, let us seek to silence our fleshly lusts.”—Athanasius
“In line with the strong biblical view of creation, pronounced by God as ‘good’ and ‘very good,’ the Christian faith celebrates life and all the cornucopia of gifts given to us by God as blessings in our human lives. It affirms the secular without being secularist. It delights in the other-worldly without being worldly. It glories in all created life under God.”—Os Guinness, Renaissance
“…so the church’s friends here are called together to rejoice with her, at the numerous birth and conversion of souls in her, than which nothing is more joyful to the saints…”—John Gill, Commentary on Isaiah 66:10
“The Lord takes pleasure in his people; they should rejoice in Him. When the Lord has made sinners feel their wants and unworthiness, he will adorn them with the graces of his Spirit, and cause them to bear his image, and rejoice in his happiness for ever. Let his saints employ their waking hours upon their beds in songs of praise. Let them rejoice, even upon the bed of death, assured that they are going to eternal rest and glory.”—Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalm 149
Further Reading: Why God Created Us to Enjoy Holidays and Celebrations
10 Bible Verses about Gluttony
While The Bible doesn’t condemn celebrations or enjoying good food, it does warn us to avoid gluttony.
“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” 1 Corinthians 6:12
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18
“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13:13-14
“…and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” Proverbs 23:2
“A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” Proverbs 28:7
“Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” Proverbs 23:20-21
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.” Psalm 78:18
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5
Further Reading: 21 Bible Verses about Gluttony
7 Christian Quotes about Gluttony for Shrove Tuesday
“Now we are clothed with Him when we love virtue, and are enemies to wickedness, when we exercise ourselves in temperance and mortify lasciviousness, when we love righteousness before iniquity, when we honor sufficiency, and have strength of mind, when we do not forget the poor, but open our doors to all men, when we assist humble-mindedness, but hate pride.”—Athanasius
“Flesh may be lawfully eaten, but not in a riotous manner, so as to indulge to gluttony and surfeiting; nor should such persons be kept company with that do so, lest their ways should be learned and imitated.”—John Gill, Commentary on Psalm 23:20
“For not only is drunkenness with wine wont to intoxicate the mind, but excess of all kinds of food makes it weak and uncertain, and robs it of all its power of pure and clear contemplation.”—John Cassian, “The Spirit of Gluttony”
“For it is a strong and brutal passion, and makes us slaves, and puts us upon ministering to the belly. Why then art thou excited and gaping after food, O man?”—John Chrysostom, “Homily XVII”
“What brutish sins gluttony and drunkenness are! they make that to hurt the body which should be its health.”—Matthew Henry, Commentary on Numbers 11
“For by daily experience, beloved, it is proved that the mind’s edge is blunted by over-indulgence of the flesh, and the heart’s vigour is dulled by excess of food, so that the delights of eating are even opposed to the health of the body, unless reasonable moderation withstand the temptation and the consideration of future discomfort keep from the pleasure.”—Leo the Great, “On The Fast of the Tenth Month”
“For excess of fasting and gluttony come to the same thing, and an unlimited continuance of vigils is equally injurious to a monk as the torpor of a deep sleep: for when a man is weakened by excessive abstinence he is sure to return to that condition in which a man is kept through carelessness and negligence, so that we have often seen those who could not be deceived by gluttony, destroyed by excessive fasting and by reason of weakness liable to that passion which they had before overcome.”—John Cassian, “Second Conference of Abbot Moses”
Further Reading: What Is Gluttony, and Is it a Sin?
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