The Process of Spiritual Formation

It is essential that disciples of Jesus strive towards spiritual maturity.

Our faith cannot, and should not, remain static. Our faith, as well as our understanding of God's will, should continue to mature as we grow in our knowledge of God.

When we do not grow and we become content with our current experience means we will miss out on the life God created us to live.

The Apostle Peter was very aware of the importance of spiritual growth. In 2 Peter 3:17-18 writes:

You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. (NLT).

To neglect our spiritual formation makes us vulnerable to error. We cannot be content with what we already know, we need to be on our guard and hold tight to what we know. This provides the foundation that we need so we can strive towards maturity.

The writer of Hebrews shares a similar sentiment when he wrote:

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. (Hebrews 6:1, NLT)

Growth is the expectation in our walk with God. We cannot remain the same and remain with Jesus. Either we are moving with him or we are being led astray.

If spiritual formation is essential to being a Christian, how do we make it a part of our lives?

It takes intentional effort. Consider the encouragement the apostle Paul offered to the Colossians:

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:6-10; NLT).

Paul taught that we need to be:

Consistent - Vs. 6
Faith in Jesus is not a one time decision. True faith is seen in our daily obedience to God's will. Our Christian spiritual formation begins the moment we trust Jesus. It continues as we consistently choose to trust him each and every day.

Concrete - Vs. 7
Being concrete is about holding on to truth. Jesus’ teachings are the firm foundation we need for life because they are truth.  We learn this truth through the study of Scripture, the relationships with other Christians, and the experience of living the Gospel. These things enable the roots of faith to be securely planted in our hearts and allow spiritual formation to take place.

Cautious - Vs. 8
This is about influence. We need to ask ourselves the question: Who is influencing me? When we lack discernment in our friends, reading material, and media consumption we put ourselves in danger of being led astray. A crucial part of our spiritual formation is being intentional about what feeds our minds and our hearts.

Spiritual formation is essential to our relationship with God. 

In fact, you could say that our spiritual formation is our relationship with God. As we mature spiritually our relationship with God is strengthened.

This is why we cannot leave our spiritual formation up to chance. We need to be disciplined in our spiritual formation so that we can become mature and experience the life God created us to live.

How to Read the Bible: Literary Styles

The Bible is the foundation for our spiritual formation.

Yet, for many of us who follow Jesus, reading the Bible is difficult. We have good intentions for reading the Bible, but we often fail in those intentions.

One of the keys to understanding the Bible is to remember that it is written in different literary styles. What are those styles?



As we come to read the Bible it is crucial that we don't just come to gain new information. Rather, we want to approach the Bible asking the simple question, "How does this apply to me?"

There are certain literary types which make this easier to do than others.

Personally, this is why I prefer the New Testament over the Old. It is easy to skim through the laws found in Leviticus or the genealogies found in Genesis, or even the writings of the Prophetic books. The literary styles that make up the New Testament, especially the discourse nature of the Apostles' letters, make it easy for me to answer the question, "How does this apply to me?"

One of the best things we can do, as a general practice, is to see the Bible, not as a book to be conquered, but as writings to understand. To do this we need to approach the Bible prayerfully and humbly, asking God to speak to us from its pages.

Rend Collective - Rescuer (Good News) [Official Music Video]

It is Thanksgiving here in the United States.

On this day that we remember the many blessings God has given to us, may we not forget the greatest blessing of all.

Thank you God for Jesus!

Thankful for God's Love

We make the decision to love. While emotion might make the choice to love easier, we still decide whether or not we will love our pets, our neighbors, our friends, and our family.

The reason we have the capacity to love is because God first loved us. The reality is that our lives are products of God’s love.

If God did not love us, we would not exist. It is God’s love that is behind every gift and blessing that we enjoy.

Even before we became Christians, God’s love was freely given to us. The Bible teaches us that while we were God’s enemies He showed love to us through Jesus.

It is the gift of Jesus that made reconciliation with God possible.

God's amazing love is cause for thanksgiving!

Erwin McManus wrote

“It is gratitude that nurtures wholeness and expresses itself as generosity in the end. Gratitude is the pathway of love. It unleashes the healing power of love. It increases our capacity to experience love and give it.” (Uprising; p. 114)

Gratitude is an essential part of learning to be people of love. 

The thankfulness we experience because of God's love compels us to love those around us. While we know we should be grateful for God's love, the reality is that we don't always feel grateful.

The problem is that we haven't connected the blessings in our lives to God. We have grown so use to good health, a roof over our heads, and food in the refrigerator that we forget God's hand in this blessings.

Not only that, as time goes on, the feeling of gratitude that we had when we first became Christians begins to fade. The great gift of salvation looses its shine in our eyes.

Instead of thanking God for Jesus, we begin to act like it was no big deal. How do we show our gratitude for the love God has given us?

 I believe the first step in being grateful is to be humble. 

How do we become humble?

We take time to evaluate our lives.

The apostle Paul wrote,"As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you"(Romans 12:3; NLT).

This step reminds us of who we are the struggles we have without Jesus. It leads us to the place of humility. Without humility we believe that we deserve the gifts given to us. Only the humble see the blessings of God as the gifts they are and therefore respond in gratitude.

I believe the next step in showing gratitude is to be a steward. 

When we use the gifts, talents, and resources God has given to us, our eyes are opened to the work He is doing in and through us.

In 1 Peter we read, "God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you"(1 Peter 4:10; NLT).

By using our blessings we show our appreciation for what we have, and we allow ourselves to be a blessing to someone else.

 The third step in having a grateful life is to be a lover.

 Remember love is a choice. God's love for us opens up the possibility for us to be people of love. This is where our knowledge comes in above our feelings.

We may not always feel grateful, but because we know God has blessed us, we choose to love: to love Him and to love others.

Paul wrote:

"Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like a sweet perfume to him" (Ephesians 5:1-2; NLT). 

A life of love is a life lived in obedience to God’s will. A grateful persons seeks to please the One who has blessed him.

 God has given us the gift of love.

 Too often we treat that love as if it is something that we deserve, rather than an undeserved blessing given by a good God. In order to be grateful we need to be humble, we need to be stewards, and we need to be lovers.

This is how we express our thanksgiving to God for His gift of love.