Spiritual formation isn’t a Christian thing or even a religious thing; it’s a human thing. To be human is to grow, to mature, to adapt over time. Formation is simply the process by which our “spirit,” or inner person, is formed into a particular shape or character. Over a lifetime, we are spiritually formed by a complex alchemy of genetic inheritance, family patterns, childhood wounds, education, habits, decisions, relationships, environments, and more.

The problem is, most of our spiritual formation is unintentional. It just happens. And often, we are “conform[ed] to the pattern of this world,” more than “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind” (Romans 12:2).