22 Comments

  1. Hand raised here. I admit that I have had a history of making personal tasks be a should when they indeed were not. Things that were more of a desire or “it would be a good idea if”. Being aware truly is the first step! Thanks for the reminder, Melissa.

    • Melissa

      It can be an easy habit to fall into and a difficult task to stop. It takes practice and dedication to become aware and refute. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!

  2. So this is a piece my counselor and I often tackle. The should statements show me where I need to look deeper at my heart at what I have allowed to become a belief or expectation that is not always based in scripture. So thankful for the promise of the Holy Spirit to help me take my thoughts captive!

    • Melissa

      Yes, the shoulds generally come from past pain and lies that have taken root. I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit, too! We are ever blessed!

    • Melissa

      Delight is definitely a much better motivator! And when we do things out of love and delight – our behaviors follow suit because we are generally more aligned with God!

  3. One of my favorite things to say is “Don’t should on me”. I have to say it to myself more than anyone else because of my tendency to judge myself on how many things I cross out on my list.

    • Melissa

      Yes, that was a phrase by the psychoanalyst, Albert Ellis. He also had a very colorful phrase about the word “must”!

  4. I loved this! I have a post in my back burner about “shoulds” and it is titled “don’t should on me ” as Alice mentioned—I always found that so funny, but SO true! I love how you broke down the definitions and gave the advice to turn the “should” into need or must- it certainly gives it a different perspective.

    • Melissa

      Thank you Susan. Yes, turning the phrase into need or must provides action instead of a passive response. Thank you again for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!

  5. I have lots of “shoulds” going through my mind all day. It’s definitely worth it taking them to God first instead of carrying them around!

    • Melissa

      Yes, it is so much more freeing when we release our negative thoughts and test the lies against God’s truth. Thank you for stopping by Tia! God bless!

    • Melissa

      I’m glad you found the post beneficial Aryn. The ability to have positive, replacement thoughts absolutely helps change our perspective and outlook. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!

  6. I love this. I don’t usually fall into the trap of placing ‘shoulds’ on other people, but I sure do it to myself a lot. I had a therapist several years who pressed me on it, and I’ve definitely gotten better at it since then, but it’s hard. There are so many things our culture tell us we ‘should’ be doing, but really we just need to look to the Bible for confirmation on where our efforts should be placed.

    Thank you for sharing this post.

    • Melissa

      It is hard, Sophie. Our past creates ‘shouds’ and our society definitely does. Yes, the Bible gives us the opportunity to confirm our thoughts. The hardest part is recognizing the ‘should’ is even happening and then taking it captive. I’m glad this is an area you have worked on and grown in. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience. God bless!

  7. Thanks for pointing this out and writing this up in detail. I think most of us feel duty-bound in some way to be doing something and can constantly feel someone else is on our back, even when sometimes they aren’t when no-one is there. After a while it becomes a self-imposed inner monologue, either because we hear a parent’s or person in authority’s voice playing inside our heads. This can eat into our joy and also our sense of peace, because we always feel we “should” be doing something.

    In Jesus there is joy and peace, and also rest, where we don’t have to feel we “should” be doing anything because he has already done it for us.

    • Melissa

      You’re right, Robert. The inner monologue and multitude of ‘shoulds’ robs us of joy. And I couldn’t agree more – Jesus is the source of all joy and peace! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and insights. God bless!

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