932) I am a rule-follower. If I have a responsibility, it gets done, and it doesn’t even occur to me to question what I’ve been told to do. Being a rule-follower has some advantages. You can evaluate how you are doing on the job. For the rule-followers, there is very little that’s gray; it’s black and white. If there is a rule, you follow it.

The essence of rule-followers, spiritually, is keeping the laws such as the 10 commandments. This standard is good because these laws are in place because God knew it would keep his children on the right path and help avoid heartache. There is a problem, however, with believing that being a rule-follower will make you just in the eyes of God. Either you keep every rule, 100% of the time, always, or you’ve missed the mark. All or nothing. Honesty makes me conclude, when evaluating my life, that I can never keep the rules all the time, therefore, I am doomed. But. . .

God is a god of grace. He knows we can’t keep the rules, so he gives us grace, made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross. In John 8:1-11, Jesus extends this grace to the woman who was guilty of adultery. He tells her he does not condemn her, when in actuality he could, but that she should stop doing what she was doing.

Rule-following isn’t bad unless you use it to measure your commitment to God. It’s good to lay down your ruler and let God do the measuring with a good dose of grace.