In the Orthodox world, we use the word “passions” to describe tendencies that each person has that lead us to sin. Each of us has a “passion” for anger, lust, power, greed, ego, etc. We do not get through life without wrestling with each of these, sometimes on a daily basis.

The most basic “passion” is hunger. While we can go a day without a lustful thought or an angry thought, we can’t go more than a few hours without a hungry thought. So, if we can tame our passion for eating, we can tame our other passions. If we can discipline ourselves to go without certain kinds of food, we can discipline ourselves so that we can go without certain kinds of behavior that are spiritually destructive. Thus, fasting is not about giving up something only to get it back. Fasting is about getting control of our passions, maintaining control over them, and ultimately giving control of ourselves to God.