As I write this, we are in the midst of Holy Week.
That is why the question popped into my mind: What if we treated every week as Holy Week? How would that look?
Hear me out. Marking the week that opens with Palm Sunday as holy is appropriate. What Jesus did for us deserves highlighting, again and again, for all eternity. After all, it’s fitting to commemorate our Savior’s weeklong journey toward the cross. Setting aside a particular week to do so every year is the least we can do to sanctify this moment in time.
So, I’m not calling to abolish the official Holy Week. Never.
In addition, by suggesting we could treat each week as though it were holy, I’m not suggesting we crucify Jesus over and over again. I don’t intend to go against Hebrews 6:6, for example. It’s enough for the sinless Son of God to suffer and die once.
The objective of my proposal is to live through the other 51 weeks of the year by keeping the events of the Holy Week in prominence.
How it looks in your life may be different than mine. What’s important is not the letter of the law, but the spirit of it (2 Corinthians 3:6).
So, as you read the following list, follow your conscience. Don’t try to tick all the boxes for the sake of blind ritual.
What can you do to elevate each week as though it were holy? Here are 8 possibilities.
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1. Cross > Sin
1. Cross > Sin
It might mean focusing on what Jesus said while crucified much more than our sins. “It is finished,” Jesus proclaimed on the cross (John 19:30). If we truly believe this, and that His gruesome sacrifice took care of sins, then it doesn’t follow to call ourselves sinners on a regular basis.
We were sinners, and our sins killed the Author of Life (Acts 3:15), but if you have asked Jesus to forgive your sins and you believe He died and rose again, the Bible upgrades you to be a saint now (1 Corinthians 1:1-2).
Isn’t it better to stress our status as God’s redeemed children each week rather than how sinful and sorry we are all the time?
2. Live Repentant
The idea isn’t to utter a blank “I’m sorry, God, for everything I might’ve missed” to cover your bases. Rather, living each week as though it were Holy Week is to commit to living a life that’s God-honoring. It’s to have a heart like God’s. It’s to develop hate for our favorite sin, no matter how long we’ve been mucking around in it.
It also means never quitting from finding a way to evict that sin from your life—whether through inner healing ministry, Christian counseling, fasting, or some other godly endeavor.
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3. No Wasted Time
3. No Wasted Time
Calling every week holy might also mean not wasting your time with meaningless scrolling, gossiping, or complaining about things you can’t change or dislike. Jesus packed His ministry into 3.5 short years. How about you? Have you been busy with what heaven is concerned with? Or have you only been occasionally preoccupied in such manner, while the busyness of daily living overtakes your attention more often than not?
Nope—it doesn’t mean you’re to resign from your job and swap it for a daily trek to church. You don’t need to work (or volunteer) at church to do kingdom business. You can bring Jesus into your world, no matter what you do. Those you meet on your bus rides, at your bank, or at the neighborhood coffee shop and drug store all need Jesus.
If you’re unsure how to bring Jesus into your everyday world, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:10).
4. Living with the Church
Living as though the Holy Week happens every week also means upping your church attendance. It may be convenient to attend church twice a year (on Easter and Christmas) or only when you can make it, but nobody who lives with the awareness of the extreme agony Jesus endured during the first Holy Week can adopt such a cavalier attitude regarding fellowshipping with His body—the church.
On that note, let’s ask God to soften our hearts toward fellow Christians. The adage “hurt people hurt people” fits even us, Christians. Don’t shun the gathering of the saints (Hebrews 10:25) because some of them upset you. Rather, commit to doing the next point.
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5. Forgive
5. Forgive
Living as though every week were Holy Week might mean forgiving with more intentionality. As I’ve written previously, forgiving strangers is far easier than family or those we interact with on a regular basis. But if we’re serious about living each new week that unfolds as though it were the Holy Week, we can’t afford to co-exist with unforgiveness, bitterness, or resentment, no matter how gravely wounded we have been because of someone else’s sin.
But let’s park here for a moment. Some offenses are truly disturbing. Survivors of abuse, molestation, or extramarital affair might find it challenging to offer immediate forgiveness.
To be sure, complete forgiveness needs to involve processing the emotional impact of the wrongdoing. One study discovered that until we involve our feelings, our forgiveness is no different than unforgiveness, in that we won’t be at peace when thinking about the offender. Working on our emotions is imperative in forgiving those who hurt us.
On the one hand, all of these take time. On the other, it’s best to keep a short account and forgive, the moment the occasion demands it.
How do we resolve this dilemma?
Step one is to exercise your will to forgive. This can be done in an instant because we know God will never mislead us. And since our trust is in God, and He’s taught us forgiveness is the way to go, you can decide to forgive whenever the need arises.
As time goes on, process the hurt and anger. This is step two. Feel, and then flush, the hurt out of your system until you’re fully ready to forgive from your heart.
6. Fasting
If your denomination practices giving something up for Lent, don’t worry. Consecrating each week as holy won’t necessarily demand fasting all year round.
Then again, one name pops into mind, due to his diligence in fasting to advance God’s kingdom. When Lou Engle does a fast, he’s not just fasting from coffee or social media. This man of God eschews all food for 40 days at a time—surviving on water only—anytime God calls him to commit to a fast.
Mr. Engle has set a standard for all of us to emulate. Maybe we’re far from living his kind of extended fasting, but still. Incorporating fasting as a regular spiritual practice will benefit us.
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7. Focus on Victory
7. Focus on Victory
Christians value Jesus as both God and man. As such, when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, what we’re truly celebrating is the greatest triumph ever recorded: a human being who was unjustly murdered was also resurrected from the grave, never again to taste death.
Therefore, if we live as though every week is holy, we don’t need to mope over disappointing things even though life is tough. But because Jesus won the ultimate victory, we can live with the assurance that our challenges will expire, too—in due time.
God still makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
8. Lost Souls
I once witnessed an inspiring scene while in a prayer meeting. The leader asked a particular elderly man—who thus far had not prayed anything out loud—what he had in his heart.
“Souls,” he said, breaking into a sob.
This man was an older evangelist. He was—get this—92 years. The man routinely walked around malls and universities to reach multitudes who were still estranged from Jesus. His deep passion for our identity in Christ permeated his prayer at our prayer gathering.
If we treated each week as though it were Holy Week, may we share this evangelist’s burden and spread the Gospel wherever we go.
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Originally published April 16, 2025.
