A Personal Rule of Life
Hannah Sandoval
I wonder, how many times have you heard the invitation that Jesus offers to his followers at the end of Matthew chapter 11?
It’s the passage where Jesus says ‘come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Perhaps, like me, you’ve heard these words so many times that you’ve become a little bit immune to them.
What does it actually look like to come to Jesus and to receive the rest that he gives? When we come to Jesus, accepting him as our Saviour, we find rest and salvation in him once and for all. Jesus’ invitation can also refer to us coming to him every day of our lives: walking with him, receiving from him, allowing him to sustain us on our Christian journeys.
I often find it helpful to read familiar passages of scripture in different translations so that I can hear the words afresh, and appreciate their meaning again. For this particular passage, I’ve found Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in ‘The Message’, really useful. Verses 28-30 read:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
One way of keeping company with Jesus, of walking with him and working with him, is to think about establishing a set of habits or regular rhythm that helps to bring our attention back to Jesus again and again.
This is sometimes called a Personal Rule of Life, and is an idea that we’ve picked up on in the Diocese of Sheffield. As people are thinking about how they are being disciples, we’re encouraging them to consider developing a Personal Rule of Life.
A Personal Rule of life is a simple set of habits and practices that a person chooses to adopt to structure their journey of discipleship. This idea isn’t anything new – having a framework or pattern to one’s life with Jesus has been common among Christians for centuries. Some people might call such a set of practices holy habits, spiritual disciplines, or practising the way.
Whatever you call it, Christians throughout history have found it helpful to be intentional about the way in which they follow Jesus.
Developing a Personal Rule of Life provides an opportunity to take a step back and look at the habits and practices we already have in our lives, and consider what we might keep, change or add to align ourselves more closely with Jesus.
It’s important to note that a Personal Rule of Life isn’t intended to be a burden, but we may need to work to stick to it. Jesus says to us ‘I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you’ (MSG). It needs to be something that is helpful for us, and something that can be flexible and change as our circumstances change.
In the Diocese of Sheffield, we’re using the idea of being Lights for Christ to promote discipleship, and have recognised three key areas:
Keeping company with Jesus, which we’re calling ‘receiving Christ’s light’. This is all about being with Jesus – in prayer, in worship, in reading the Bible and receiving from him as we take part in communal worship.
Walking with Jesus, which we’re (unsurprisingly!) calling ‘walking in Christ’s light’. This is about becoming more like Jesus and trying to emulate his character as we go about our daily lives.
Working with Jesus, which we’re calling ‘reflecting Christ’s light to others’. This is about how we can show the love of God to everyone we meet by trying to do as Jesus did.
You might like to think about how you are already doing these things, and how you might be intentional about doing more of them. Perhaps you could decide on one new thing to try for each of these three areas.
To support people to do this, the Diocese of Sheffield has put together a series of resources on developing a Personal Rule of Life. You can find all of these resources online at www.lightsforchrist.uk/ruleoflife, plus details of any upcoming workshops.
Hannah Sandoval is the Lights for Christ (Discipleship) Enabler for the Diocese of Sheffield. She is also a teacher working with Deaf children. In her spare time you might find her playing her harp or in one Sheffield’s many rock climbing gyms.