A Brief History
JesusHacks was founded Neal Samudre in January 2015 with the vision of helping people live like Jesus by developing character through building meaningful habits consistent with their core values. He embarked on this journey with the fundamental belief that we all need to live like Jesus, or in other words, become the people we were made to be. Since it’s inception, the mission of JesusHacks has continued through the years with various kinds of resources-blog posts, books, podcasts and online courses-all focused on helping people live like Jesus by developing character through building meaningful habits.
In Summer 2016, Neal contacted Judah Cofer with the idea of taking over the brand and driving the mission forward.
Welcome to JesusHacks
JesusHacks—a twist on the popular term “lifehack”—is a step away from today’s self-centric personal development culture, to a Jesus-centric, biblical approach to how people change, live effectively, and impact the world around them.
The modern personal development and self-help culture primarily focuses on external success; how to become wealthy, gain position, and have all the possessions and pleasure that would make us happy. Essentially, It teaches us how to become the hero of our own story. In contrast, the Jesus-centric, biblical approach to personal development focuses on internal success, how to develop character, gain an eternal perspective on wealth and position, and have the impact Jesus calls us to. It teaches us how to make Jesus the hero of our story.
In today’s “crazy busy” and “always rushed” world, it’s difficult to focus on anything but what is directly in front of us. The Jesus-defined successful life, the eternal perspective and mindset, and the soul and character paradigm of personal growth is not the main priority of our time and energy. Today’s society praises the public, external, and career-oriented life much more than it does the quiet, internal life and character of the heart, mind and soul.
For example, it’s easier to care more about money and fame than it is to care about integrity, kindness and humility. But Jesus never focused on money and fame because that’s not what changes or brings the impact of His redemption to the world. In some senses, Jesus could be considered to be externally successful in His impact on the world, even while physically present. But His external success was totally dependent on and driven from his internal relationship with His Father. External success will always lean on the strength of our internal life. What is inside our heart, mind, and soul will come out in the world around us and impact for the better or worse. This being the case, why do we spend so much more time cultivating our public persona than we do our inner character?
Today’s self-help and personal-development resources all search for the magical solution for what makes us happy, healthy, and successful in life. They often focus on short-term strategies and methods, quick hacks, tips, and tricks to help us become the better us. But is that really the answer to how we become better people? While some of these techniques are helpful, they are disconnected from the overall framework for life that Jesus gives us through His teaching.
As Jesus taught, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Instead of focusing on gaining temporary success in this life by taking a self-centric approach to personal growth, at JesusHacks, we believe in gaining eternal success in the next life by taking a Jesus-centric approach to personal growth.
How do we practically take a Jesus-centric approach to personal growth?
This is where I get really passionate! You see, I believe that Christianity is the most practical religion on earth. Of course, that would make sense, because it’s the religion, or system of faith and worship, that was revealed and instituted by the Creator. Because I believe this, I believe that the Christian faith and worldview impacts and affects all of life. Meaning, everything we do from what is considered the mundane and menial to the important and significant becomes a way and opportunity in which we can love and glorify God. This goes for the stay-at-home mom caring for her children to the factory machinist working on the engine line. All central Christian theology, philosophy, and teaching can make a difference in our daily life and should be able to be practically implemented.
One of my spiritual heroes, Oswald Chambers, wrote
“We have to recognize that we are one-half mechanical and one-half mysterious; to live in either domain and ignore the other is to be a fool or a fanatic. …we have to work out in the mechanical realm what God works in the mysterious realm.”
I love this quote, because it teaches us a unique perspective on practical Christianity. The Christian faith is both a physical and spiritual exercise, it’s a holistic approach to life and faith. In this framework of life we can relegate all of life to a spiritual one; everything we do is a spiritual act of faith and worship. In this way, we are always worshiping something, we are always placing our faith in something, and it is our job to ensure that the object of our faith and worship is Jesus in all of life.
This is why I believe that there are no short-term quick hacks, tips, and tricks for what makes us truly satisfied and successful by Jesus’ definition. After years of being a Christian, it’s clear to me that the best life possible is to live like Jesus. It will not always be the easiest life but it is the ultimate life – life as we were created to live.
JesusHacks will provide you with insightful articles, practical tips, and resources in various formats to help you cultivate and refine habits that help you follow Jesus and practically implement His teaching into your life.
To begin, fill out the form below to get a free email course. When you join our mailing list, you’ll never miss an article, and you’ll get special deals on our resources. This is your first step to joining a community of like-minded people seeking to follow Jesus by living an intentional life of character and impact.
Every Jesus follower is in a process of learning how to follow and love Jesus more every day. I’m excited to be a part of your journey. Let’s begin!