From Willful to Willing
Willful. Willing.
Three letters different. A hundred miles apart.
The willful person mentally muscles through life.
Like every human, he needs safety, significance, and connection. But rather than humbly express these needs, the willful man tries to secure them himself by doing everything right.
He’s a Christian who claims to follow The Way but in practice he’s a perfectionist who follows The Right Way.
He’s a man of his word, not for love’s sake but for the word’s sake—that is, he does what he says not primarily for the good of the other but to maintain his reputation and to avoid rejection and punishment.
On the outside he’s calm and cool—cold, in fact. On the inside he simmers with self-judgment and resentment because neither he nor anyone else can meet his rigid standards. He walks by the law.
The willing person… now there’s someone you want to be around. She breathes through life.
She has the same human needs, but rather than attempt to meet them on her own terms she expresses them without manipulation to God and to others.
She receives and gives.
She is humble. She is strong. She has grit but not gritted teeth.
She uses willpower not to get everything right but to move with trembling and open hands toward what she values.
She is not passive or apathetic or resigned; she is lovingly assertive with others and actively surrendered to God. She walks by grace.
I’m on a journey from willful to willing. Maybe you are, too. In the coming weeks, I’ll share stories and practical steps for cultivating a willing heart and growing as a person of grace.