Merit-making really has another name: pride, & perhaps vanity.
Pride is putting one's security in oneself, or cults like Opus Dei's ability to control events, the outcomes, etc.
Vanity is putting one's security (sense of worth, well being, etc.) in the opinion of others, like other members of your respective cult (such as Opus Dei, Society of Pius, Legionnaires, etc. 
These cults lead to a stiffening of our will and loss of use.
So the practice of "articulating" our will is a helpful thing for Christians to do, occasionally examining the why of our behavior. Why do we do the things we do?  Are we mindlessly following some rules-bound leader or dogmatic cult?  Have we perverted Jesus' teachings in favor of loveless philosophical ramblings, rituals and narrow-mindedness?  The articulated will realizes that doing things for others, out of love for them as well as God is the true good, not self-righteous lecturing and self-flagellation.