A Faith Workout

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I remember it like it was yesterday.

My wife and I were with our small group at our previous church. We were sitting in one of our members’ apartments for a study. At one point the conversation turned to the different ways we each were trying to live out our faith as Christians.

For whatever reason, though, the mood was kind of dour. We kept slipping away from talking about how we could live out of our faith to all the ways we weren’t living it out. And the reasons seemed to range just as much as the variety of snacks on the coffee table between us. “I just don’t feel like I have time,” one said. “It was easy in the past, but now that we have kids, I feel like I’m so distracted,” said another. “Honestly, I think I’m just a bit apathetic,” confessed a third. We all just kind of sat there, wishing we could be more committed to our faith.

Finally, one of our members, a known “gym rat” who worked out regularly said, “You know what we need? We need a faith ‘workout’! I mean, you all know I like to work out regularly. It’s because I have a plan. Every Monday is leg day. Tuesday is upper body. Wednesday is cardio. And so on and so forth. I make time for that. I focus on it. I plan it out and stick to it. I need something like that for my faith. I need a faith workout!”

There was a moment of silence as we all processed what he said.

Then another of our members spoke up. “I think there actually is something like that,” she said. “It’s called ‘A Rule of Life.’”

A Rule of Life

If you’ve never heard of a Rule of Life, all it really is is an intentional plan for practicing and living out our faith. For instance, just like my fellow small group member had a plan for how he’d exercise and strengthen his body in the gym, a Christian’s Rule of Life is a plan for how we can exercise and strengthen our faith. So, for example, a basic Rule of Life might say something like, “On Sunday I’ll practice Sabbath and go to worship with my church. On weekdays, I’ll practice the disciplines of reading Scripture and praying for a half hour each morning. On Saturdays, I’ll practice hospitality and have people over. I’ll also regularly tithe and support my missionary friend financially. And once or twice a year I’ll go on a silent retreat to a local retreat center and spend some time intentionally listening to God.”

Like Monday for leg day (which is the worst), Tuesday for upper body, and Wednesday for cardio, it’s an intentional plan for practicing the disciplines of the Christian faith and living out our faith.

Here’s the thing, though:

You already have a Rule of Life.

You might not know it. It might not be intentional. And it might not be what you want or wish it to be either. But you have one. We all do. And that’s because we all have a rhythm or “rule” we live according to.

For instance, waking up and checking your phone first thing in the morning is a Rule of Life. Obsessing over your body and what you see in the mirror—that’s a Rule of Life. Opening your closet and agonizing over what to wear each day—that’s a Rule of Life. Getting angry at other drivers on your way to work or school—that’s a Rule of Life. Cheating on an assignment or a test or cutting corners in your job, badmouthing your boss or teachers or coaches, skipping homework or housework so you can play video games, getting into fights or posting critical stuff about others on social media, or looking at porn and watching endless amounts of it while lusting over the people on the screen—those are all Rules of Life.

Again, it's not that we don’t have a Rule of Life. We do. It’s just that often our Rule of Life is unexamined.

Reforming Your Rule of Life

So for us as Christians, the questions we need to answer are: “What is my Rule of Life? Is it what I want it to be? And is it helping me live out my faith and grow in my relationship with God?” If not, it might be time to swap out some of the activities and habits in our Rule of Life that aren’t contributing to our faith and instead swap in some that will.

For me personally in recent years, as a busy pastor, husband, and parent of three young children, I (and our family) have increasingly found the discipline of a dedicated Sabbath not only restful, but enjoyable, and it’s become such a part of our weekly rhythm as a family that we all look forward to it each week.

I’ve also found a more regular habit of morning prayer (sometimes starting with the twin disciplines of silence and solitude) to be an important way for me to “greet the day” and begin each day in conversation with God.

And finally, for a few years now, I’ve appreciated the discipline of reading through the Bible, often using a read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, as I continue to soak up God’s Word and “marinade” myself in Scripture.

What will it be for you? What disciplines and habits might God be inviting you into? As you seek to reevaluate and reform your Rule of Life, what disciplines and practices might help you “work out” your faith and strengthen your relationship with God?

I can tell you one thing. Whatever it is, it’ll be a whole lot better than leg day.

(If you’d like additional resources on putting together a Rule of Life, I’d recommend Lauren Winner’s little book Mudhouse Sabbath, as well as the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. The nonprofit Christian organization Practicing the Way also has a free “rule of life builder” on its website that walks you through questions about your life and suggests different spiritual disciplines that might help you reform your default Rule of Life into one that more intentionally strengthens your relationship with God.)