Growing in The Mind of Christ (Spiritual Formation)

Spiritual formation is defined and bound within the notion of growing in the mind of Christ within your unique life story. That means the process consists of an appropriate melding of your unique individual temperament, talents, and self into the principled goal of Christ-likeness. The process would look like this:

• Get involved with your faith and people. Jesus is our example. That is exactly what He did. He did not simply seclude Himself but was involved with both God and man and hence grew in favor of both (Luke 2:52).

• Allow moments and people to challenge you and mold you. An example of this can be seen in the Transfiguration, where Peter, James, and John were challenged not only by what they saw on the mountain with Jesus but also by the healing witnessed after they came down from it (Matthew 17:1-21). This allows our story to be tuned and our lives to reflect the influence of Jesus.

• Engage every day in constant conversation with God. Affirm within yourself that God is always present and, therefore, always listening. Allow conversation with God to become a part of the “flow” of your life rather than just moments scattered throughout the day.

• Meditate and Study on the Story and Teaching of God. Allow God’s words to always be fresh in your mind so that His word can have a continued impact on your decisions, desires, and purposes.

Spiritual formation has to be a matter of full submission. If we are not fully submitted to it, we will find ourselves battling between competing purposes and drives in life. In scripture, this is often seen as the flesh versus the spirit; however, it could also be viewed as self-centeredness vs. surrender. Spiritual formation can only happen when we choose to be what God wants us to be rather than choosing for ourselves who we should be.