The Rule of Life

This summer, we have been studying the basics of Christianity. We have been emphasizing the importance of having a rock solid foundation to build your life on. Without solid Christian beliefs and knowledge about our Christian faith, the Christian life will without doubt become boring and unfulfilling. So many Christians today find themselves burnt-out or stagnant, wondering why the 'life to the full' has left them dry and hungry. To our surprise, we are finding that so many Christians have forgotten the incredible fact that Christ is presently living inside of them. We have been reading Classic Christianity, by Bob George. His insights have been incredibly helpful as we wrestle with truth about basic fundamental Christian beliefs. One thing that has stuck out to me is that so many people do the "Christian things" (i.e. go to church, read the bible, reach out to the homeless, come to Jamaica) because they are trying to please God and earn a little bit more of His acceptance. Yet we all know that Christ loves us each the same and that His love is endless. Since we are no longer under the law but under grace (see Romans 6), we should now set ourselves to a higher standard. We should now strive to allow Christ to live in us as fully as possible. If we live for any other reason, our faith is not based on grace and love and life in Christ, but on good works or what others think of us. I could go on and on about our nightly discussions and what we are experiencing and learning together, but today I want to focus on one thing that will help us to have a dependent, receiving heart for the Lord to use in our daily lives.

This summer, the summer staff has created and committed to our rule of life. We have six things that we will strive to do each day or week (depending on the rule) that will enhance our relationship with Christ and allow Christ to move in us and live in us. We understand fully that these six things are not to be done for any other reason than to serve the Lord. Here is our rule of life, divided into three different categories...

The Inner Life
- Journal Regularly
- Spend one hour per week in solitude
The Communal Life (this applies to summer staff only)
- Participate in a weekly happy/crappy session (This is basically a weekly discussion about how we are living with each other)
- Serve a staff member daily
The Outer Life
- Engage a team member in a significant conversation daily
- Engage a Jamaican on an emotional level daily

As you can see, these six rules really stretch us each day, but allow us to be intentionally filled with Christ's love and live in Christ with each other and the people we are ministering to this summer. I would like to challenge EACH OF YOU to create and commit to your very own rule of life. It may be something very small, or you may want to go big with your rule. Regardless, I urge you to make your rule of life something that will help you to have a dependent, receiving heart for Christ's love and life to be overflowing in you...

In Christ Alone,
Lacy