Well before I get into sharing my rule of life, I want to explain a couple of things:

First of all, there is no “right” rule of life for everyone.  Every on is different, and some of the things that work for me may not work for you.

Secondly, this is my rule for now.  Most likely it will get tweak along the journey.

Third, if and when you decide to establish a rule of life for yourself be realistic and at the same time stretch yourself.  People typically go way over board (ex: read the Bible through 3 times a year, pray for an hour on my knees everyday at 4am, and so on…) and fail, or make it too easy (ex: read one verse a day).

So there are a few thoughts.  Now to my Rule of Life…as you’ll see I’ve broken it up based on things I’d like to do weekly, monthly, and yearly.  I’ve also tried to be specific about when I’m going to do things and where.  If not, a busy life of marriage, kids, family, friends, and work would set me up to fail.  So here goes nothing: (more…)

Over the last several weeks I have felt a need for a new beginning in a few areas of my life.  One simply has to do with my office.  I’m moving down the hall.  A couple friends of mine are going to help me do that today!  Yeah, I’m pretty excited about that.

Secondly, and more importantly has to do with my spiritual life.  Why is it that when life gets busy, it’s our spiritual life that gets squeezed out?  Check out this quote from Dallas Willard, “Spiritual life is one of interaction with a personal God and it is delusion to think this can be carried on sloppily.”  Did you catch that?  It’s delusional to think that our spiritual life can be effective if it’s carried out “sloppily.”

Ruth Barton also said, “if we look closely at the way we live day to day, we may well notice that our approach to spiritual transformation is much more random and haphazard than our approach to finances, home improvements and weight loss!  Many of us try to shove spiritual transformation into the nooks and crannies of a life that is already unmanageable, rather than being willing to arrange our life for what our heart most wants.  We think that somehow we will fall into transformation by accident.”

Well I certainly don’t want to approach my spiritual life with God “sloppily.”  That is why I have developed “A Rule for Life” (this term isn’t original to me).  It really is a “Rule.”  Not because my faith is about rules and regulations, but because I want God to be a priority in my life.

Tomorrow I’ll share with you my Rule in hopes it will help you begin to establish one for yourself.

Last night I finished a book called Monk Habits For Everyday People.  It was an interesting book and had several great things to say.  One of the main things that stood out to me was this quote:

“Live simply so that others may simply live.”

What an amazing quote to think about?  Too often we can fall into the trap of living our lives focused on ourselves and fail to take the needs of others into account.  Check out this story (also in the same book):

“Years ago, when Apple began producing personal computers, one day I raved about the features of the latest Mac that I coveted while a friend prepared a meal for us in her kitchen.  Finally she stopped peeling potatoes, looked up, and asked, ‘And how will this serve the kingdom of God?’  I never purchased that computer, and I thank my friend for her gentle reminder.”

How would our lives changed if we viewed everything we want through

the lens of “how will this serve the kingdom?

Tommy