But life is always full of "shoulds," both from the surrounding culture:
- I should go 'green' in every aspect of my life
- I should exercise every day
- I should buy this or that product so that my life will be complete
- I should pay attention to all the scientific research as the benefits of this or that food (açai berry, anyone?)
- I should read multiple news sources every day so as to stay up on what's going on in the world
- I should know what's going on in the financial world so that I can invest my money appropriately
- should, should, should
- I should read my Bible more
- I should pray more
- I should care more about God
- I should volunteer somewhere where I can help the poor
- I should be constantly growing in faith
Not everyone is as hypertuned to the shoulds of the world as I am -- and paying attention to should isn't all bad. However, if I get overwhelmed by shoulds to the point of paralysis, that's a problem. And slavery to shoulds is antithetical to grace.
So what's the solution? For now, maybe just a prayer of release:
Lord, I feel worthless because I cannot keep up with the shoulds of my life. Thank you that you've got me anyway, and that your grace is greater than my false guilt as well as my true guilt.
I guess the shoulds "should" point me to grace -- and that ain't a bad thing.
The tyranny of the shoulds. Well put. I've got a huge list myself, and I'm constantly trying to put things in the perspective of the reality of what I can actually accomplish in a given day--or ANY day.
ReplyDeleteI like your prayer at the end. His grace and mercy and compassion truly are greater than all our false guilt and our true guilt.
This post keeps coming back to mind--because you gave voice to so many of the "shoulds" that haunt me as well. It's reassuring to know I'm not alone in the battle. And you are ever such good company! :)
ReplyDelete