Episode 22: Justin Whitmel Earley
March 30, 2021Join an incredible conversation with Justin Whitmel Earley, author of The Common Rule, as he shares with Jedd how through a major life crisis God’s grace and the wisdom of friends unexpectedly introduced him to a whole new way of life…and all that has happened since.
In this episode, you'll explore:
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Why our small, often unnoticed habits carry immense power for good or ill.
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How to create guardrails that keep you pointed towards your vision of what matters most.
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Finding joy amidst a culture thick with anxiety, depression and overwork.
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How small, simple practices can steadily reshape our experiences of daily life, our impact on others and the people we’ll become.
Key Quotes:
"I didn’t realize that the real battle ground for that stuff was in the small habits. And once I started working in those, I started realizing that my heart was changing because my habits were changing." - Justin Whitmel Earley
"If I’ve learned one thing about trying to live missionally...it’s that it really does matter. And whatever matters…is hard. If you’re doing something that matters to the Kingdom, it’s hard. " - Justin Whitmel Earley
"You need habits of discipleship that help spiritually form you for that very difficult task of living missionally within your vocation." - Justin Whitmel Earley
"I had no idea at the time how much these small, incremental, tiny little daily, weekly, monthly habits – that look like ordinary stuff – actually do form our souls in extraordinary and deep ways." - Justin Whitmel Earley
"We make our life about something. And that is most properly called worship. And that something changes us, and so we are going to be formed in the image of what we worship. And that idea – that we are always worshiping and that that worship is forming us – is phenomenally significant to the realm of habit." - Justin Whitmel Earley
"Your habits are not going to change God’s love for you. But, God’s love for you should change your habits." - Justin Whitmel Earley
Meet Our Guest
Justin Whitmel Earley
Husband, Father, Neighbor, Author, and Lawyer
Justin Whitmel Earley (JD, Georgetown University) is the creator of The Common Rule, a program of habits designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor. He is also a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. He previously spent several years in China as the founder and general editor of The Urbanity Project and as the director of Thought and Culture Shapers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community through arts. He and his wife, Lauren, have four sons and live in Richmond, Virginia.