The Journey Begins

My spiritual formation journey began long before I was even aware of it. Though I accepted Jesus into my heart around the age of five, kneeling by my bed with my Dad leading me in the sinner’s prayer, it was not until much later in life that I began to understand that spiritual formation is a grace-filled and God-loved process. It is not a process full of “do’s” and “don’ts”, but rather a relationship of wholeness, healing, and growth.

Spiritual Formation is discipleship, is sanctification, is salvation. It is simply the process of becoming more and more like Christ as we actively follow Jesus and live out his teachings in our daily life.

Unfortunately, the concept of salvation as a “ticket to heaven” or a “get out of hell free” card has warped the very essence of the relationship with God that He gave His life to ensure. God did not send Jesus to die for us because He had to, He was angry with us, or because He was tired of humanity blowing it. God sent His son because He LOVED us and still LOVES us today, and love is the foundation of spiritual formation.

It has been said before that love can change the world, and I firmly believe it. This is because God IS love (1 John 4:16), and love is the basis of His desire to restore us to Himself and heal our brokenness. All He asks of us is to love Him and love others (Matt. 22:36-40).

And we learn how to love Him and love others through the daily process of spiritual formation, actively participating in the process of healing, wholeness, and transformation. Philippians 2:12-13 tells us that we are to “work out” our salvation because God “works in us” to will and to act according to His good purpose. Daily engagement in spiritual practices, intentional and purposefully journeying with Christ is the path to wholeness, healing, and growth, to the fullness of the sanctification or the salvation process.

I invite you into this space of growth, of formation, and of sanctification with me as we journey together with Christ.

~Sanejo