To-do List Wisdom

Be gracious in your speech.

The goal is to bring out the best

in others in a conversation,

not put them down, not cut them out.

(Colossians 4:6 MSG)

Some of us write out our to-do lists each day. Others of us are more creative (less organized), and we keep our lists floating around in our brains or just fly by the seat of our pants.

Either way, all of us have things we need to get done each day.

Recently my thirteen-year-old daughter, Brooke, tweeted her to-do list.

And, y’all, the preciousness of her list made my heart dance with joy. And it challenged me.

She’s a relationship-driven gal. I’m a task-oriented gal. Neither is better. However, I’m challenged when I look at Brooke’s list and see that she puts as much intentionality into building her relationships each day as she does into accomplishing her tasks.

Are you ready to see the cutest, sweetest to-do list ever written?

1. Bring project for [social studies] on Ashley’s laptop

2. Take allergy meds

3. Tell Mom u love her

4. Text Kenzi to tell her if u are going to school

5. Thank Jesus for being there for u

6. Give Daddy a hug

7. Eat breakfast

8. Take shower (hair looks bad)

9. Tell Ashley she is the best big sister

10. Tell Hope she looks really pretty

My to-do lists don’t look like this. They are filled with tasks and errands, which aren’t bad, but I do need to get more intentional with relationship building, so maybe adding more relationship-oriented items to my list might help me.

Are you more task-oriented or relationship-oriented? What to-do items do you need to get more intentional about — tasks or relationship building?

Maybe, just maybe, we can use Brooke’s sweet to-do list to help formulate our Gentle Reply List.

How can you honor someone who feels offended today?

How can you show grace to “your people” today?

How can you show compassion to that hard-to-love person today?

Yesterday we talked about accepting the challenge to hold our tongues and offer a gentle reply instead of spewing. Today, let’s ask the Lord to show us how to love those around us, tempering our responses with honor, grace, and compassion.