Unhurrying with A Rule of Life: Part 6
Refining Your Rule of Life
By Collin Mayjack
Begin with prayer (5 minutes)
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting (around a table, on the couch, the floor of a living room, etc.). Have someone lead a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Debrief last week’s Practice in triads (5–10 minutes)
If you are in a Community of seven or more, divide into small groups of 3–4 people each (ideally same gender).
Spend a few minutes catching up on life…
Then talk through the following Debrief Questions:
Of the seven categories in the Rule of Life, which has been the most thought provoking? Which has been the newest for you?
In light of forming your Rule, what is one new Practice your are hoping to integrate into your life?
As you consider adding this to your Rule of Life, what are some of the obstacles you may face?
Read this Overview
Have you ever grown a plant in your home? Imagine that you’ve gone to a nursery and purchased a young ivy plant. To welcome it into your home, you’ve picked out the perfect ceramic planter, purchased the right kind of soil, done your research about watering, and found the exact place in your living room that your ivy can grow and flourish. These early steps of preparation set the trajectory for the life of your plant away from eventual death on the windowsill and towards becoming a strong, bountiful ivy.
Yet, what your young plantling needs in the first three months will not be what your plant needs after three years. It will need more water, new soil, a larger planter, and so on. For your plant to flourish, you need to create a plan for now and adapt that plan again in the future.
All of this is true when forming a Rule of Life, or what many spiritual greats have called a “trellis” for abiding. If you want to grow in discipleship to Jesus, you will need to form a Rule (or trellis) now, and you will need to adapt and re-adapt that plan in the future, lest you become stagnant and stop bearing fruit. As we’ve said before, our Rule of Life is a living document, one that can be changed, refined, and adapted to promote future growth.
Having crafted your first draft of a Rule of Life, the goal for this week’s Practice is to adapt and refine your Rule of Life with the help of your Community.
Rule of Life Workbook
In the Rule of Life Workbook, you have been provided seven categories for which you can create a Rule of Life. If most of your community has not yet put pen to paper to create your rule, it would be worth stopping now to finish your drafts together. You can put on some music, share ideas, and slowly fill out your rule together. Once you’ve done that, move on to the next section.
Remember, though your Rule may read like a list of personal rules, it is more so a means of clarifying and articulating your values and purposefully integrating them into your schedule and lifestyle.
Note: Like the entirety of your Rule of Life, your rule for abiding will be unique to you, and much of the specifics subjective.
Do this Practice as a Community right now (20–25 minutes)
Having made the first draft of your Rule of Life, we’re ready to spend some time editing your Rule. In groups of 3–4, answer the following questions regarding each category of your Rule. As you work through the questions, have your journal or laptop (wherever your Rule is written) in front of you, making edits to your Rule as you go.
In each category, is my rule realistic? Are there any un-realistic portions of my Rule that may need to be edited out for now and re-explored in the future?
Are there any portions of my rule that can be simplified? Or sections in which the bar could be lowered if necessary?
Is each component of my Rule specific and measurable? Which components are not?
Are there any specific Practices that I feel are missing my Rule?
At the end of the day, if only one new Practice made its way into my life, which would I want it to be? What changes need to be made to my Rule for this to happen?
Then, come back together as a Community and work through the following questions:
What is one edit you made to your Rule during our time together tonight?
How can our Community keep one another accountable to following Jesus and to living out these Practices?
How soon do we want to revisit our Rules together? What about individually?
Discuss the Coming Week’s Practice (5 minutes)
The Practice for this week is simple: finish refining your Rule of Life and then share your entire Rule of Life with someone else. It could be a friend, a member of your community, or a spouse. But whoever it is, spend some time sharing your Rule with this person. By letting someone else into your process, you set yourself up for success over the long haul. As you work this Rule into your life, this person can provide accountability, encouragement, and feedback for you along the way.
Close in Prayer (5 minutes)
