A Rule of Life.
No sense in reinventing the wheel here. Right down the bottom of this blog I’m just going to include all the resources and insights that I found helpful on this topic. Probably the most significant being this one from the Practicing the Way crew. Right at the start of the year we make resolutions for how this year is going to be different. Then usually around this time we hit our first hurdle. Perhaps this season we should refrain the idea and create a rule. Something to help us become less scattered, less hurried and less overwhelmed.
Learning to do less better.
A Rule of Life is “an intentional, conscious plan to keep God at the center of everything we do. . . . The starting point and foundation of any Rule is a desire to be with God and to love him” (Scazzero, 196).
I like to think of creating one by taking the very significant big rock issues of our life and figuring out all the different ways we can make Jesus the centre of those things. It isn’t about trying to squeeze more Jesus into my life. It is about starting with him at the centre and ensuring that everything intersects with God.
As part of a rule of life, we can adopt some disciplines, which can be divided into a number of different categories.
The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study offer avenues of personal examination and change.
The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service help prepare us to make the world a better place.
The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to God.
If you are feeling a little scattered, hurried, reactive and exhausted then perhaps there are changes to our schedule we can make to allow us to feel more connected to God.
Creating and living by a Rule may not be for everyone, but in our busy and fragmented world, it’s a helpful, time-honored resource for deep, wise living. In my own congregation and across many others, I long to see believers slowing down, planning prayerfully, and creating space to focus on God, his Word, and his calling on their lives. Imagine a whole church—even a whole movement of churches—stepping into the lives of their neighbors and the burdens of their communities from positions of rest, renewal, and spiritual strength.
Our goal here isn’t MORE but rather LESS. Crafting a sustainable rhythm with a guide to help us.
So where do we start, well here is a short list of all the different resources on crafting a rule of life.
Here’s the Toolbox!
Practicing the Way Rule of Life Workbook.
An Introduction to the Rule of Life by C3