Theological Journal – January 9

We’ve explored our desires a bit in relation to crafting a rule of life. Today we’ll look at our roles and gifts in that process. In the final post on a rule of life I will provide an actual rule of life recently crafted for you to gain a sense of how one person has done it. Again, there are no formulas, templates, or one-size-fits-all form for this rule. They are unique as you and I are. And they will change as our lives change. So be flexible. Use the example I’ll provide as inspiration to spur your imaginative reflection on what kind of rule might best suit you.

Roles

Your personal rule of life is discerned and framed within the context of your primary relationships and your spiritual community, lived out in service to others.

List all your key relationships (names) and the role you play in each (father or mother, brother or sister, boss, colleague, student, friend). Five to seven such roles or key relationships seem to be about as many as most of us can reasonably manage.

How would you evaluate (NOT judge!) your personal relationships? What hopes do you have as you reflect on these relationships? Be as specific as possible.

Ask God what he is inviting you to focus on in your relationships during this season of your life. What specific issues do you need to attend to within your primary roles or relationships at this time?

Gifts

Your personal rule of life is discerned and framed through the discovery of your spiritual gifts, natural talents, and temperament.

All of us have both spiritual gifts and natural talents. God’s Spirit blesses our talents and gives us the gifts to work for God’s glory, the edification of the church, and the blessing of the world. We have nothing we not been given. We can give nothing of or on our own to our growth and ministry.

What are the chief activities (3-5) in your life that are most life-giving to you at present? What are most life- and energy-draining? In what ways does this reflect your self-awareness of the temperament God has created deep within you? (There many temperament analyses and guides out there. Most seem not very reliable beyond the most general level which most of us already know before we use these instruments. Many people I respect speak very highly of the Enneagram. I’ve not used it myself but free comfortable recommending it on the strength of their recommendations of it).

Review your list of activities and gifts and talents. How does your temperament factor into how you utilize or underutilize each of these? Our temperaments are not straightjackets which lock us into only what they help us determine our temperament is. We can act successfully and flourish in things that lie outside our temperamental “comfort zones,” especially when it necessary we do so. But such activities will tax our resources more heavily and require more self-care from us. 

How will you lean into the joy of developing these talents and activities for your own enjoyment and the benefit of others?

P.S. if you have any matters you’d like me to reflect on here, I’m wide open to suggestions. I have some ideas I want to explore but have no agenda or timeline for any that now. So feel free to suggest something you’re interested in. If I don’t believe I can responsibly deal with it, I tell you.