Snapshot:
- Spiritual formation is a slow and steady process, it is pieced together by habits and skills that we practice with the hope of becoming more like Jesus.
- There are things we can do to train ourselves in the spiritual life, but ultimately, it is God who does the shaping and forming.
- A few habits that can form us are Bible reading, prayer, participation in worship and Christian community, and intentionality with our time.
Slow and Steady
A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to begin strength training. I’ve never loved working out—I’ve done it sporadically throughout the years because I should or because I wanted to reach a specific goal. But I decided this time would be different; I wanted to be fitter and healthier, so I committed to strength training five times a week.
Now, two years later, I’m happy to announce that I kept my commitment! And, I learned many things in the process. The first lesson became clear quite quickly—changing your body through strength training takes a long time. Becoming stronger and gaining muscle requires doing the same exercises repetitively. And yet, you do not see immediate results. It sometimes takes months, or even years, to get the desired visual results. Therefore, the process requires choosing—day after day—to wake up early and get the workout done, even when you don’t feel like it. It is slow-and-steady consistency paired with eventual results.
But here’s the thing—the results do come. As you choose day after day to work out, your body starts to change. You get stronger. Your muscles grow. You see the results of your hard work. Slowly, your body is formed by these repetitive actions.
Spiritual formation is a slow, steady process—consistently working with Christ as he forms us into his image.
What is true for strength training is also true for the spiritual life. Growing in faith and truly becoming more like Jesus involves daily habits practiced over a long period of time. Spiritual formation is a slow, steady process—consistently working with Christ as he forms us into his image.
Spiritual Formation Defined
Christian circles often throw around the term “spiritual formation,” but what exactly does it mean? Depending on which theologian or pastor you ask, you’ll likely get a slightly different definition. But the main idea behind spiritual formation is that it is “the process of becoming more like Jesus.”
The distinction—becoming more like Jesus—is important because we live in a world that desperately seeks to form us into its image. And here’s the thing—we will be formed by something. It could be friends, culture, politics, or social media, but something or someone will form us.
In his book, Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer says, “Spiritual formation is not optional . . . We are either being transformed into the love and beauty of Jesus or malformed by the entropy of sin and death.”1
Spiritual formation is important because we will be shaped by something, and for followers of Jesus, our goal is for our molding to be done by God. We desire to be transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Who Does the Forming?
The process of becoming more like Jesus is cooperative—it involves followers of Jesus inviting, allowing, and working with the Holy Spirit to put faith into action.
For example, someone who wants to improve their soccer skills will not do so by simply watching soccer games, reading soccer stats, and watching YouTube videos on technique. To get better at soccer requires practice, drills, and getting up and moving.
The same is true of spiritual formation. Those who want to grow in Christ and become more like him need to know what he said, and then do it. Studying the life of Jesus and then going out to practice being like him—by talking to the Father, learning the words of Jesus, practicing hospitality, showing compassion—are the things that will appropriately shape us.
The work of spiritual formation can feel challenging. It can feel like a lot of things to do. But one of the beautiful things about salvation is that it is not dependent on works! So how do we balance exertion and grace? Dallas Willard says grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort. He writes, “The whole person must be active with Christ in the work of spiritual formation. Spiritual transformation into Christ-likeness is not going to happen to us unless we act.”2
Being formed spiritually is not passive. But neither is it dependent on your striving. Here’s the wonderful thing—Jesus doesn’t ask his followers to do a whole bunch of work without offering help. Instead, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit lives in believers, strengthens us, and helps us grow. Spiritual formation is a cooperative practice between every believer and the Spirit. As we choose the things of God—consistently, day after day—we become more and more God-shaped.
Disciples Formed by Jesus
Over many centuries, Jewish faith and practice developed a system for students to learn how to follow God and be formed by his ways—they called it becoming a disciple. A disciple was a student, someone who sought to study with a rabbi who knew God’s Word and followed him well.
A disciple didn’t just admire his rabbi. A disciple didn’t just want to know what the rabbi knew. A disciple wanted to be like the rabbi.
Jesus was a first-century rabbi, and he had disciples. After his death and resurrection, Jesus instructed his disciples to go and make more disciples—more followers, more people who wanted to be just like him.
He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19–20).
It is clear from this command that Jesus doesn’t simply want us to “ask him into our hearts.” He doesn’t want us to be merely amazed by his teachings or stop at the belief that he is the Son of God. Jesus said he wants the multiplication of disciples—people whose greatest desire in life is to be like him, willing to be formed and shaped by his character.
But how on earth do we become like Jesus—God in the flesh, someone who never sinned, someone who gave up his life for the world? Enter spiritual formation.
The Practices That Form Us
It is easy to think that only contemplatives can be good at spiritual formation, people who love to sit in silence as they think about God. But spiritual formation works in the vibrant, everyday, real life that God calls us into as we follow him. He has given us multiple ways to grow in faith and maturity. You might practice some of these habits for a time, and others might stick for a lifetime. To get started, here are a few practical suggestions:
Bible Reading
One of the most obvious ways to grow as a Christian is to spend time reading God’s Word. God’s people have always known this to be true. God invited his people to think about it day and night, to talk about it always (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). The Psalms also remind us that fruitful people dwell on Scripture day and night (example: Psalm 1:2). When God’s people return to Jerusalem after the exile, one of the first things they do is read Scripture aloud. It was a purposeful effort to recall what was true and right after years of being influenced by a pagan culture (Nehemiah 8).
The Bible is not just a list of rules or random, unrelated letters. The Bible is about seventy-five percent narrative, and it tells the biggest, truest, and most beautiful story in existence. It is not a magic book, but a living one. It is the story that God is telling about himself—who he is and what he is like. Through the Bible, we know the way to salvation, receive instructions on how to live, and receive the invitation to participate in God’s story. As followers of Jesus, one of our goals should be to immerse ourselves in Scripture. Here are two ways to approach the practice of Study:
Read Big
We often approach devotional time by reading a chapter or a short passage of Scripture and seeing what it might have to say to us. But Scripture is one big story about God, and its books were originally meant to be read aloud in large chunks (compare Deuteronomy 31:9–13; Joshua 8:34–35; 2 Kings 23:2). One of the best ways to be fluent in the Scriptures is to read whole books over and over again. There are Bibles specifically designed to help us with this—check out the Immerse Bible or the ESV Reader’s Bible.
Memorize
During the first century AD, almost all Jewish people would have committed large chunks of Scripture to memory. It was the only way to meditate on God’s Word day and night—you can’t constantly be thinking about, chewing on, or processing something you don’t know! Having Scripture in your heart deeply forms you—it will come to mind when you find yourself having to make a difficult decision or when you’re choosing how to act or what to say. The Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and knowing it well is crucial for spiritual maturity.
One of the best ways to memorize Scripture is to take small chunks and write them down. Use your hands! Grab a pen, paper, and your Bible! Once you’ve written a section, place it on your mirror or fridge (or, if you ignored that tip about actual, physical writing and typed the words, then set them as your phone’s home screen).
Music is also a great tool for learning Scripture—the book of Psalms is the hymn book of God’s people after all! As you read the Psalms, notice how many mention music. Check out this resource for Scripture set to music.
Prayer
God’s intention, from the beginning, is to spend time with his people. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God (Genesis 3:8–9). But sin broke the relationship between God and people (Romans 3:23)—and yet, God still spoke to people—Cain, Abraham, Hagar, Moses. Throughout Scripture, people pour out their requests, praises, fears, joys, anguish, and more in prayer to God. Incredibly, the Bible tells us that God bends down to listen when we talk to him (Psalm 116:2).
The way we get to know someone is by talking to them, and the same is true with God. Prayer is deeply formative in our journey with Jesus because as we speak to him, our relationship with him grows.
Sometimes we pray together—hearing how others speak to God and how we can lift them up. Sometimes prayer is solitary—maybe on a walk or a set-aside time in the morning or before bed. Prayer can also be constant—small conversations throughout the day, words of Scripture repeated back to God, or even simple pleas like “Jesus, help.” Prayer forms us by reminding us that we may share every part of life with Jesus.
If you need help with beginning, reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence is a great place to start. Or, the Book of Common Prayer contains prayers that Christians have prayed for centuries. For more modern prayers, check out the Every Moment Holy volumes I, II, and III for prayers covering every aspect of life. Or, the Lectio 365 app from 24–7 Prayer is available for download on your phone and provides a reflective Scripture and prayer practice three times a day.
Church and Christian Community
One of the major ways we are formed into the likeness of Christ—and sometimes one of the most neglected practices—is by being with God’s people. Although we sometimes think of spiritual formation as a solitary practice, so much of our formation happens in community! The Bible assumes that people are together—almost every time you read “you” in Scripture, the “you” is plural in the original language.
It is hard to follow Jesus alone. We find strength and encouragement, and we learn from one another when we walk with other disciples.
Therefore, commitment to a local church is crucial. One of the things that becomes clear throughout the New Testament is that we are not our own. We belong to Christ and to one another, which is why so much of the New Testament letters are dedicated to encouraging believers to be united and to love one another (check out 1–3 John!).
Worship Together
One way we express our commitment to Jesus and community is by meeting weekly for worship with other believers. In his book Deep Discipleship, J.T. English makes the point that for Christians, “Formation happens in the context of a family—both nuclear and ecclesial. We are a part of a family that forms.”3
When we attend church to worship, hear the Word, participate in sacraments, and fellowship with others, we are reminded that the things that can seem most real or most pressing throughout the week are put into right perspective and priority when we see things through an eternal perspective. During Sunday worship, we are reoriented toward God’s way and God’s perspective.
It is hard to follow Jesus alone. We find strength and encouragement, and we learn from one another when we walk with other disciples.
Another way that community assists our growth is that we remember God’s Big Story together. Pete Greig’s Sabbath Blessing is a wonderful reminder of this. In it, he prays, “May God’s image in me be restored, and my imagination in God be re-storied.”4 Sunday worship is meant to restore and re-story us around the things of God.
James K.A. Smith puts it this way, “Christian worship . . . is essential counterformation to those rival liturgies we are often immersed in, cultural practices that covertly capture our loves and our longings, miscalibrating them, orienting us to rival versions of the good life.”5
Participating in community (by finding good Christian friends) and participating in worship (in your local church context) is crucial for healthy spiritual formation.
Time
Another spiritual practice that can sometimes be overlooked concerns how we spend our time. The way we use it shows us what we value. Some things are required—school, work, etc.—but the choices we make throughout our day also illuminate our priorities. Think about how much time we spend on our phones or playing video games versus how much time we spend with family, friends, or God.
Sabbath
Genesis tells us that God created the heavens and the earth (and everything in them) in six days, and on the seventh day, he rested (Genesis 2:2). He then invited his people into this pattern—providing a day each week for rest and recharge. Rest is an essential physical practice. A day of rest allows us to be restored from hard labor or pause from the overly busy schedules we create for ourselves. But Sabbath also encourages dependence on God. When we take a true day of rest each week, we must trust that God will hold the things we have left undone. Obeying and finding our peace in him is better than doing all the things.
Calendar
You can also be shaped by how you structure and think about your year. Nations know this well—they create federal holidays that are meant to remind people of important national moments. These holidays create shared memories, which form people into patriots. Our yearly calendar is often defined by summer vacations, Christmas breaks, national remembrance days, and so on. But what does it look like to form our year around the things of God?
The Christian calendar, which has existed in the church for centuries, can be deeply meaningful. The season of Advent (typically November–December) is meant to change our rhythms. During Advent, Christians watch and wait for the arrival of Jesus as king. Dark mornings that slowly move toward the brightness of Christmas teach us to wait. The same is true for the season leading up to Easter, when we remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. On Pentecost Sunday, Christians are reminded that God’s Holy Spirit lives in us and gives us strength to become more like Jesus.
Learning about and celebrating biblical holidays—such as Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles—can also help us better understand God’s character and what is important to him. Every sacred event draws us into Scripture, reminds us of Jesus’ life and sacrifice, and helps us see our time differently. Perhaps we may be inclined to think less about the approach of things like spring break and more about God’s work in the world.
Conclusion
There are numerous other spiritual practices we could explore—solitude, fasting, generosity, witness, confession, service, etc. All of these are useful as we draw closer to Jesus and become more like him. Invite the Holy Spirit to work in you, to counsel you in the truth, and to grow his fruit in your life. The invitation is open. Will you surrender yourself to God’s molding and shaping?
- John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like Him. Do as He Did, (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2024). ↩︎
- Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship, (San Franscisco: HarperOne, 2014). ↩︎
- J. T. English, Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2020). ↩︎
- Pete Greig, “A Sabbath Blessing,” PeteGreig.info, accessed July 30, 2026, http://www.dirtyglory.org/new-page-3. ↩︎
- James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2016). ↩︎
