Should. Want.
Toxic-shame. God-given passion.
A small creek runs behind my house. On most days, I can jump over the stream of water without any problem. In one moment I am on one side and the next I am on the other.
Should. Want. It seems like there’s hardly a difference, right? I should play with the kids. I want to play with the kids. I should take my wife on a date. I want to take my wife on a date. It’s almost like me jumping over the creek. Very little distance between should and want.
The difference, though, lies beneath the words. Toxic-shame almost always motivates our shoulds. God-given passion fuels our wants.
Toxic-shame and God-given passion could not live further from one another. Instead of a short hop across a creek, they are oceans apart.
Think about it: If I asked my wife on a date because I should or if I invited my kids out to play because I should, what life would I offer? What would the power of my presence offer?
The truth is the toxic-shame which motivated my “should” would leave them feeling like a burden. That’s what we do with poorly processed toxic-shame: we transfer it.
The good news, though, is we do the same thing with life and passion: We may not transfer it, but we do share it.
Want changes the whole story. Want, living from God-given desire, spills the passionate life within us out for others to receive.
A life of want motivated by passion: If you knew this life existed, you’d probably swim across the ocean to find it.
It does.
