Writing with some awesome writers at Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday.
The word is "Should"

I Should, You Should, He does

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Is 5:21

That which is right and sensible; that is a definition of should. How do we so often get sidetracked? John Lennon in his song “Beautiful Boy” sang this quote; “..Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans.”

How many should haves and should not haves do we wrestle with? Is there a false standard we are comparing ourselves against? In John 8, Jesus said to the accusers of the woman found in adultery “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. None of them stuck around and He said to her “Woman, where are thy accusers, has no man condemned thee? She said, no man Lord. And Jesus said to her, neither do I condemned thee; go and sin no more.”

Was she guilty? Yes. Were they following the law? Yes. Am I guilty of any sin? Yes. I must first recognize that sin still exists. Whatever the sin was or is that brings us to ‘I should have or I should not have must bring us further to repentance before Jesus alone so He can advocate for us and take care of our accusers. I see He extended grace to them just as He did to her. Their own hearts condemned them, therefore they could not receive His forgiveness.

Oh, these are not the plans I made for myself. God knows so much more about me than I do. It is not what my life looks like to the condemning eye, but more the issues of the heart that are being turned over like fallow ground. Jer 9:11  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.  King James version says,  “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. I like both versions. The end expressed here is the one that Christ has secured for us. Our expectation which is our hope.

Reminding myself God's purpose is not to harm me, so in turn I SHOULD not harm others.