Why Lists Don't Do It for Me Anymore
It’s no secret I’m a list person.
I’ve always enjoyed making lists. I like unloading my brain on paper. Makes it easier for me to understand what’s going on.
But I have to confess, the luster of checking the box has been lost on me for quite a while.
I was reminded of this today when I checked off some boxes. Yes, I was glad I the sweeping was done and the fans finally cleaned. I was glad the soap dispensers were refilled and my room was clean(er).
But I looked around the house and saw LOTS more that could be done. Chores for a future list. Always waiting for me.
Long ago I figured out I can manipulate lists to my advantage. Any seasoned list maker will tell you the usefulness of having categories of lists: short term and long term, cleaning and work-related, wish lists and plans… If they are all on one list it just creates an overwhelmed jumbled up pile of things you should be doing. Way too defeating.
Which is part of why checking off boxes doesn’t do it for me anymore.
I know there are plenty of boxes waiting for me after this one.
I know this is a depressing take on a lovely thing like lists. My apologies.
But it’s this reality about lists that led me to put less stock in my lists and more stock in God’s Word.
See, for plenty of years, I had been trying to turn God’s Word into a list. I wanted the boxes and I wanted to check them off. I wanted the instructions and the rules all laid out very clearly for me so I could organize them and feel really good about myself when I checked them off.
And I found other believers who thought they had cracked the code of putting God into a list. They told me exactly what I needed to DO to be a believer. Exactly what I needed to DO to know FOR CERTAIN that me and God - we would be on good terms.
The list had something to do with a certain number of minutes in the Word every day. There was some business about bringing other believers to Christ. And there were some specific words and prayers I would need to say to seal the deal. I remember this one girl had a list for me of like 7 things I would need to do. It was really nice and neat. So convenient.
But something felt wrong.
There was so much pressure.
What if I didn’t do it right? How could I be sure this was going to take care of my salvation? Man, I knew I had screwed up a lot in the past. Could I really be trusted with the salvation of my soul?
It was my husband who straightened me out. I remember sitting on the couch with him whining about how I just wasn’t so sure about the meanings of these verse in Romans. These people were telling me I was supposed to do this and that, but gosh, I just felt like something was missing.
“You don’t need to do all that stuff, Ang. What about faith alone? You can’t keep the law perfectly.”
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:4
You can’t check off the boxes to salvation. There are always more boxes. The tasks you complete are imperfect.
You can’t earn this.
Only Jesus earned it.
He earned it for you.
Stop with the boxes.
Sixteen years ago that was the beginning of a perspective shift for me and it continues today.
I’ve always enjoyed making lists. I like unloading my brain on paper. Makes it easier for me to understand what’s going on.
But I have to confess, the luster of checking the box has been lost on me for quite a while.
I was reminded of this today when I checked off some boxes. Yes, I was glad I the sweeping was done and the fans finally cleaned. I was glad the soap dispensers were refilled and my room was clean(er).
But I looked around the house and saw LOTS more that could be done. Chores for a future list. Always waiting for me.
Long ago I figured out I can manipulate lists to my advantage. Any seasoned list maker will tell you the usefulness of having categories of lists: short term and long term, cleaning and work-related, wish lists and plans… If they are all on one list it just creates an overwhelmed jumbled up pile of things you should be doing. Way too defeating.
Which is part of why checking off boxes doesn’t do it for me anymore.
I know there are plenty of boxes waiting for me after this one.
I know this is a depressing take on a lovely thing like lists. My apologies.
But it’s this reality about lists that led me to put less stock in my lists and more stock in God’s Word.
See, for plenty of years, I had been trying to turn God’s Word into a list. I wanted the boxes and I wanted to check them off. I wanted the instructions and the rules all laid out very clearly for me so I could organize them and feel really good about myself when I checked them off.
And I found other believers who thought they had cracked the code of putting God into a list. They told me exactly what I needed to DO to be a believer. Exactly what I needed to DO to know FOR CERTAIN that me and God - we would be on good terms.
The list had something to do with a certain number of minutes in the Word every day. There was some business about bringing other believers to Christ. And there were some specific words and prayers I would need to say to seal the deal. I remember this one girl had a list for me of like 7 things I would need to do. It was really nice and neat. So convenient.
But something felt wrong.
There was so much pressure.
What if I didn’t do it right? How could I be sure this was going to take care of my salvation? Man, I knew I had screwed up a lot in the past. Could I really be trusted with the salvation of my soul?
It was my husband who straightened me out. I remember sitting on the couch with him whining about how I just wasn’t so sure about the meanings of these verse in Romans. These people were telling me I was supposed to do this and that, but gosh, I just felt like something was missing.
“You don’t need to do all that stuff, Ang. What about faith alone? You can’t keep the law perfectly.”
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:4
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:6
Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:2
(The answer to that last rhetorical question, by the way, is “no.”)
Romans 6:23
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:6
Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:2
(The answer to that last rhetorical question, by the way, is “no.”)
You can’t check off the boxes to salvation. There are always more boxes. The tasks you complete are imperfect.
You can’t earn this.
Only Jesus earned it.
He earned it for you.
Stop with the boxes.
Sixteen years ago that was the beginning of a perspective shift for me and it continues today.
As I check off the boxes, I can see out of the corner of my eye all the tasks that still await.
But I know my value does not depend on whether I get all the boxes checked.
But I know my value does not depend on whether I get all the boxes checked.
I know my relationships do not depend on how clean my house is, how successful I am, or what I accomplished today.
I know my worth is not connected to my box-checking.
And I know this, because it’s what God’s Word says.
See, I’m unreliable and unfaithful. I’m inconsistent and lazy and confusing. I’m complex in a terribly simple way and I can’t be trusted to always know the answers.
The Bible doesn’t say that. I just know from experience.
But God?
Oh man, He’s strong and a sure thing (Psalm 24:18, Zephaniah 3:17).
There’s nothing He can’t handle and nothing He doesn’t understand (Matthew 19:26, Isaiah 46:9-10).
He’s the most faithful, consistent, loving entity (Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 86:15).
And He promises to be near me (Psalm 145:18)!
He promises to make me new. He promises to make all things new. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ezekiel 11:19-20)
He holds me in the palm of His hand. Unrelated to my own abilities or knowledge.
As a baptized, repentant child of God, there is no question He is working inside me to renew me and make me perfect.
Like the list I’ve always wanted to check off.
photo credit: 143/365 - task management via photopin (license)
I know my worth is not connected to my box-checking.
And I know this, because it’s what God’s Word says.
See, I’m unreliable and unfaithful. I’m inconsistent and lazy and confusing. I’m complex in a terribly simple way and I can’t be trusted to always know the answers.
The Bible doesn’t say that. I just know from experience.
But God?
Oh man, He’s strong and a sure thing (Psalm 24:18, Zephaniah 3:17).
There’s nothing He can’t handle and nothing He doesn’t understand (Matthew 19:26, Isaiah 46:9-10).
He’s the most faithful, consistent, loving entity (Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 86:15).
And He promises to be near me (Psalm 145:18)!
He promises to make me new. He promises to make all things new. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ezekiel 11:19-20)
He holds me in the palm of His hand. Unrelated to my own abilities or knowledge.
As a baptized, repentant child of God, there is no question He is working inside me to renew me and make me perfect.
Like the list I’ve always wanted to check off.
photo credit: 143/365 - task management via photopin (license)
What's on your list that you keep thinking you have to do to earn favor with God? Can you submit it to Him in the Truth that we can't do this on our own?
