Rule For Life
15 Jun 2010 Comments Off
in Discipline, God, God's Purpose for Me, Life, Purpose
On June 9th I wrote this on my blog:
I have been using a book by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun called: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us to learn more about different Spiritual Practices that I had not yet considered.
The ones that God is speaking to me about currently are: The Rule for Life, Self-Care and Detachment. Adele in her book defines those three as follows:
“Rule For Life
A rule for life offers unique and regular rhythms that free and open each person to the will and presence of Christ, The spiritual practices of a rule provide a way to partner with the Holy Spirit for personal transformation.”
“Self-Care
Self-Care honors God through nurturing and protecting the body, mind and spirit with their limits and desires.”
“Detachment
Detachment means replacing the attachment to (1) idolatrous relationships and (2) self-serving goals and agendas for success, money, power, ego, productivity and image with wholehearted attachment to and trust in God alone.”The more I practice these things the more they seem to meld together into one practice. The more time I spend in Solitude and Silence with God, the more days I spend focusing on Him in Sabbath, the more I become aware of the need for a rule for life, self-care and detachment.
I have been working the Spiritual Discipline called “Rule for Life” and asking myself a lot of questions. What should my rule for life look like? How descriptive should I be? How detailed should it be? What will fit me best?
For my first draft I penned these words:
Rule For Life
- Love and glorify God,
- Love and edify others and
- Care for myself.
As I thought and prayed about this “rule for life” God brought to mind things He has been speaking to me about for a while. Here are a few of the things He reminded me of today:
First — Jonah 2:8 — “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” God has impressed on me that I had been forfeiting His grace in many areas of my life by hanging on to things, activities, etc. without purpose or reason. When God spoke to me though His word I began thinking about downsizing, decreasing, and eliminating. I am working to remove worthless things, those things that don’t fit with the plans and purposes God has for me, from my life. And believe me it is hard work!
Second — I asked God to help me write a calling and purpose statement for my life He gave it to me in the form of Scripture: 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3
Third — God has been impressing upon me that when my life has the right balance, He will have the preeminence in all I am and in all I do. Only then will I:
- Love and glorify God,
- Love and edify others and
- Care for myself
This morning I posted this on my facebook page:
Working on a “Rule for life”.
1) Love and Glorify God,
2) Love and Edify Others and
3) Take care of myself so 1 & 2 can happen.
This afternoon this portion of Scripture came to mind: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39
OK, so the ideas I have for my rule for life are not new. Scripture bears that out. I don’t have to be original I just want to live according to God’s plan for me.
If you have been reading my blog you know my Dad died October 2009 and my Mom died January 2010. Since that time I have been thinking a bit about my own life expectancy. I will turn 55 this month. If God allows me to live on this earth as long as my parents did I have somewhere between 25 and 30 years left and I would like to finish well.
You shouldn’t wait till you are 55 to begin to ponder these things. You can start now even if you are in your teens. You can plan for finishing well.
Your rule for life doesn’t have to be rocket science. It just has to be God directed.
When I posted about working on my rule for life, this morning, I was expecting to add a lot more verbiage. I thought part of the fleshing out process would include descriptive goals and how I plan to meet those goals in days to come. Yet, God has consistently been calling me to a more simplified and focused life. And now that I have had the opportunity to spend this entire day with Him, I believe I will keep it simple.
So here is my “revised version” which is not much different that what I started with:
Rule For Life
1) Love and glorify God.
2) Love, encourage and build up others.
3) Love and care for myself so 1 & 2 can happen.
While there are only three very short statements included in my “Rule for Life” they are filled with purpose for every area of my life.
If I truly love and glorify God I will obey Him, live according to His call and purpose for my life, and eliminate everything from my life that could keep me from wholehearted attachment to Him.
If I truly love, encourage and build up others it will always be with a desire to bless them according to their needs not as a way of self-aggrandizement so I feel better about myself.
And if I truly love and care for myself I will do so with grace and mercy remembering how I am made, with strengths and weaknesses that make me uniquely who I am.
Father,
I am reminded of a song I learned with my children.
“In my life Lord, be glorified, today.”
Help me to love and glorify you.
Help me to love, encourage and build up others.
Help me to love and care for myself.
Thank you, Father, for who You are, all You have done and all You are yet to do.
Amen.
