What is it?

A rule or rhythm of life is a way of living that opens a person to the presence of Christ. It is a way of intentionally partnering with the Holy Spirit for the transformation into the image of Jesus that Paul challenges us to in Romans 8:29.

People hear the word“rule” and worry that they’re being asked to engage in “works based religion” or “dead religion,” but nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, as Adele Calhoun says in her Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, “Each rule, or rhythm is a way we partner with God for the transformation only he can bring. Rules keep our lives from devovling into unintended chaos. They aren’t a burdensome list of dos and don’ts … but a brief and realistic scaffold of disciples that support your heart’s desire to grow inloving God and others.”[1]

In the same way none of us would expect to run a half-marathon or seriously learn a new language without a daily discipline, a Rule of Life helps us intentionally engage in practices that will create a soul transformation, leading us step-by-step into the image of Christ.

Or as John Mark Comer says in Practicing the Way, “Jesus isn’t asking you to do something you’re not already doing. All of us are abiding. The question isn’t, ‘Are you abiding?’ It’s, ‘What are you abiding in?”[2]

Notes:
1. Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Formatio, 2015), 38.
2. John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2024), 37-38.