Women & Work

The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley

Book Club and Live Author Q&A

The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction with Justin Whitmel Earley

The Common Rule is a set of daily and weekly practices designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor.

Over the fall of 2021, the Women & Work community read Justin Whitmel Earley’s first book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction.

Justin Earley provides concrete, doable practices, such as a daily hour of phoneless presence or a weekly conversation with a friend. These habits are “common” not only because they are ordinary, but also because they can be practiced in community. They have been lived out by people across all walks of life―businesspeople, professionals, parents, students, retirees―who have discovered new hope and purpose.

In this Q&A, Courtney Moore, founder and president of Women & Work, and Courtney Powell, Ministry Content Director covered topics with Justin such as:

  • His transition from full-time missionary to lawyer
  • Habits as Formation
  • A Theology of Work
  • How our Daily Habits Redeem Our Work and Reorient our Minds
  • The Freedom of Daily Habits
  • Rhythms of Rest
  • Boundaries and Limitations in our Work
  • Habit and Heart Formation in the Home 


We pray this conversation will encourage and challenge how you think about yourself as an image-bearer and transform how you carry out the work God has called you to.

To learn more about Justin’s work as an author, speaker, and lawyer, visit justinwhitmelearley.com/

About The Common Rule

Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of a thousand invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy, and depressed people. We yearn for the freedom and peace of the gospel, but remain addicted to our technology, shackled by our screens, and exhausted by our routines. But because our habits are the water we swim in, they are almost invisible to us.

What can we do about it?

The answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. The Common Rule offers four daily and four weekly habits, designed to help us create new routines and transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor.

Justin Earley provides concrete, doable practices, such as a daily hour of phoneless presence or a weekly conversation with a friend. These habits are “common” not only because they are ordinary, but also because they can be practiced in community. They have been lived out by people across all walks of life―businesspeople, professionals, parents, students, retirees―who have discovered new hope and purpose.

As you embark on these life-giving practices, you will find the freedom and rest for your soul that comes from aligning belief in Jesus with the practices of Jesus.

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