Rule of Life — Sample Worksheet

Outline for a Rule of Life Chapter

Title of Chapter: Friendship

 

What do you see in Scripture, church tradition or reason regarding this topic that provides some light or guidance?

 

Friendship resides in the heart of God. The Trinity is a friendship. The Father’s gift of the Son is his act of befriending us. Jesus’s sacrifice is the supreme  friendship. The Church is a communion of friendship. Sin is the rejecting or breaking of friendship.

 

What do you see in yourself and your life at present regarding this topic (an honest inventory of where you are now)?

 

I am shy and tend of have relationships which are not really friendships – work or client relationships. I have been hurt sometimes by friendships without proper boundaries.

 

What are your goals for how your life will express this topic?

 

I would like an array of real friendships, with people of various ages, men and women, where I could accept and be accepted without needing to “perform” or please.

 

What measures will you take to encourage the goals you have set for yourself in this area (people, resources, checks and balances, boundaries, etc.)?

 

I will deliberately reach out to potential friends – invitations to dinner, closer connections with old friends. I will need to set aside time each week to cultivate friends – without work agendas. I will be careful with relationships that seek something beyond friendship from me  or with people who complain too much or are unduly negative.

 

What do you seek from God in assistance regarding this topic?

 

I ask God to free me of self-consciousness that holds me back from friendship. To help me first of all to be a true friend to myself – a subject for reflection in daily prayer.