6 Verses to Foster Spiritual Formation
May 22, 2024
Blog by Gem Fadling
For the last few years I have enjoyed meeting with women in coaching or soul care groups. It is such a beautiful and vulnerable way to share our lives. The women who attend are always leaning in toward God and desiring to connect at a deeper level with others.
Awhile back I decided I wanted to share with these women the scriptures that have helped form me. These verses helped me focus on the centrality of God’s love, the way of Jesus, and the process of being transformed. I’d like to share these passages with you today.
Of course, these are not all the verses that have impacted me, nor are they the only verses that point to love, connection, and transformation. I’m simply sharing some verses that, to me, paint the lovely picture of how God initiates and we respond over the course of our lives.
I believe this progression and these verses are the trellis on which the flowering vine of my life can unfold. Not every verse that represents this process is included, but this is a wonderful starting place.
I love these passages, and I hope they will bring encouragement to your heart today. I suggest you make time later to read them slowly and notice how they inform your own foundational connection to God as God enlivens, renews, and refreshes you.
1. It Begins with God’s Love and Care
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Exodus 3:7-8)
This passage is the basis for the practice of Immanuel Journaling created by Sungshim Loppnow. These are the main verbs that stand out:
- I see you.
- I hear you.
- I am concerned about you.
- I can help you.
- I will be gracious to you.
This passage wonderfully shows us God’s posture toward us. I’m seen, heard, cared for, and graciously helped. This is a beautiful foundation on which to build a life.
2. God Is Not Elsewhere
In him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:23)
I love the all-encompassing nature of these words. I am in God. I am in Christ. All of me, all the time. I live, move, and have my being in God. You can’t get any closer than that. This is kingdom reality. God is not elsewhere.
3. God Initiates, Carries, and Completes
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
I get into trouble when I carry the weight of the world on my little shoulders. I think too highly of myself and move forward in a spirit of control. This verse assures me that God began the work and God will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. As Henry Blackaby profoundly noted, we simply join God in God’s work.
This is another foundational idea that keeps me from being over-responsible and then overwhelmed.
4. We Remain Attached
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
This verse and its surrounding context is so important. It is the centrality of our connection to Jesus. We remain attached. And just like with a vine or tree, the branch that stays connected bears fruit. It’s simply the way things work. “Apart from me you can do nothing” is one of my favorite lines of scripture. I receive it as an invitation into a lifelong relationship of connection, nourishment, promise, and love.
5. We Are Transformed
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:1 NIV).
Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be…. Love from the center of who you are. (Romans 12:6, 9 MSG).
These phrases leapt out at me one time when I was listening to scripture while preparing to lead a daylong retreat. Notice the passive nature of that phrase “be transformed.” It hearkens back to Philippians 1:6. God initiates and God transforms. Our part is to remain open, respond, and cooperate. Again, it’s an organic and connected image.
And within that transformation I am invited to simply be who I was created to be and love from the center of that place. This is simple but not always easy. I can practice embracing who God has made me to be and then simply offer that to others. And I can more easily love from that place of reality. No masks, no personas. Just me offering myself in healthy and helpful ways for the sake of others.
6. Fruit Emerges
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
I don’t make fruit. This is important because it’s easy to get caught in the trap of trying to produce. Christian production is exhausting because it’s an unnecessary trap that can lead to burnout.
But fruit-bearing is a sustainable way to live. And this brings us back to John 15. I remain attached, open, and cooperative. And then fruit like love, joy, and peace can emerge naturally from my life.
Just like a farmer doesn’t actually create an apple, I don’t create peace. A farmer tends a plant by watering, weeding, thinning, and pruning, and it bears fruit. Likewise, I tend to the soil and garden of my own heart and God bears the fruit of peace, goodness, and kindness.
Something being formed in me that grows and then bursts forth is different from me pushing and trying to make something happen. This is an important posture shift for a Christian leader.
As I reflect on these passages again, I realize I’m really just painting a picture of John 15. It is the progression of the vine and the branches. No surprise there, as I’ve been living for over thirty years with that image as my paradigm for life.
How do these verses strike you? What emerges from within you as you read them? I hope they inspire you today and that you have a deeper sense of living, moving, and having your being in God.
For Reflection:
- I invite you to consider these verses again later. What does the progression mean to you?
- If you were to create your own scripture-based paradigm, which verses would you choose?
- What is the trellis of your own life? What supports you as you make your way forward in formation and leadership?
