"Roberta" or Robot?

Some time ago, I was thinking about my response to things especially in church and started asking myself if I'm a "Roberta" (i.e. a real person) or just a Robot?

I started thinking about and asking myself this some months ago even before I read Lorna Dobson's book:

"I'm more than the Pastor's Wife: Authentic living in a fishbowl world" - more about/from the book later.

Reading her book gave me some comfort that I was not "off-track" in examining myself in that way.

She said something about how a lot of Mrs. Pastors get into the mechanics of ministry...because of people's expectations that box them in. This is a big mistake and I believe it is the root cause of the misery some of us face in ministry. Whenever we get into the mechanics we miss out on the meaning of ministry because then everything (or almost everything) we do is all motions without any emotions - and there is no way we will be fruitful or fulfilled that way.

I know the world talks about "fake it until you make it" - and that is a terrible way of thinking and living that should never be mentioned, let alone tried out, by christians. I know that sometimes we (I) feel "coerced" to fulfill all righteousness i.e. we do things because we have to, not because we want to. Even Jesus sounded that way when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). It was because He wanted to do God's will, He ended up being fruitful and fulfilled.

To move from "robot" to "Roberta" we must have a deep desire to do God's will - our love for Him will propel us to put our flesh down and let His Spirit work in and through us to do His will, His way. God has called us to be "Robertas."
So answer the Call and become/be/remain a "Roberta" -  someone others can relate to. Look around, we already have enough robotic things/toys around us.