The Torah Trusts You
Why are the Torah's prohibitions written in the future tense, while the commandments come as direct orders?
The Rama noticed that the Torah's prohibitions are phrased in the future tense: you will not have other gods, you will not swear falsely. He understands this as a statement of confidence. Hashem is saying that He knows you will not do such things, because it is not in human nature to do them, and if a person does stumble, it will be only a passing episode. The commandments, by contrast, come in the imperative: honor, remember. Here, he explains, Hashem is not giving a new demand. The good impulses were already in you from the start, and they only need to be awakened and developed.
Source: Quoted in the name of the Rama in the Jewish Encyclopedia, "Fano"; the treatise is not named there
Hashem's confidence in you is built into the Torah's wording. Today, when you are tempted by something you know is wrong, tell yourself that this is not who you are, and that Hashem expects better. When you take on a mitzvah, think of it as waking something already awake inside you, not as a heavy burden dropped on you from above. Pick one mitzvah you perform out of habit and give it a moment of real intention.