Do you catch yourself nurturing thoughts like these?

• I should have remembered to send a birthday card to my friend.
• I should have been gentler in expressing my frustrations to an employee.
• I should have called a recent widow to let her know she’s not forgotten.
• I should have made a better eating choice, but I didn’t.
• I should spend more time with my dad who’s in a nursing facility.

    I am the queen of “should” statements, regularly measuring myself against them. Consequently, I see my failings daily when I generate lists like the above. Don’t I make a great Pharisee? Many of us share this Pharisaic trait of being a rule-follower. Our problem is that we strive to do good by our own strength and not by the power of the Spirit. But why do we gravitate to “should and ought” rules?

    I believe we desire to please our heavenly Father. We understand His unconditional love for us expressed to us through Christ Jesus, so we want to show our love to God as a form of gratitude. When we obey what He says we “should” do, we are demonstrating love to our Father.

    We also lean to “should” rules because God expresses His commandments in Scripture. When He says, “Go and make disciples,” we should go make disciples. When He says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind,” we should do so.

    We also play the “should” rules in our head when we fall short. Paul says it the best in Romans 7:18-21: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” Paul gets it. We know what we should do, but our sinful nature competes with us. When we desire to do good, but don’t do it, it’s because our sinful nature won.

    So how do we free ourselves from the litany of all of our failures? Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” I’m proposing that we start each day with only one “should” rule to “keep in step with the Spirit.” Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to show us what we “should” do throughout our day. Then let’s trust Him to show us. Our part is to listen and respond to His promptings immediately. Why immediately?

Photo Courtesy @ IStockphoto.com/Aviator70

    I no sooner hear His whisper to do something, and I procrastinate. I tell myself I’ll do it later, except when later arrives, I have already forgotten what He whispered. Or I remember His whisper days after I was prompted. The moment is lost. When the Spirit speaks to us, I don’t think He’s trying to assist us in building a “to do” list. I think He’s looking for obedience at that moment. If we delay acting upon His prompting, then we’ve lost step with the Spirit.

    Suppose the Spirit brings to mind a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while. Let’s consider this prompting as the Spirit’s invitation to partner with Him to reach out to this friend in the present moment. So what if you’re in a meeting when your friend comes to mind? Then immediate obedience is a quick arrow prayer to God for your friend. What if you’re in your office where you have some freedom to do something more? Immediately send an email to let your friend know that you’re thinking of him or her. What if you’re in your car? If you can drive hands free, call your friend as soon as the Spirit whispers the name!

    Most of us miss too many opportunities to partner with God when the Spirit has prompted us to action. We choose to delay, believing it will be more convenient to act later. By the end of the day, we are inundated by the list of “should” statements highlighting our shortcomings. So let’s make a change to face only one “should” rule a day, but then have fun with it.

Photo Courtesy @ IStockphoto.com/aldomurillo

   Challenge: Let’s start our day with this prayer, “Father, may your Holy Spirit reveal to me throughout the day what I “should” do, and help me respond immediately to be obedient.”

Blessings,

Lee Ann