Awaken
Learn to pay attention.
Notice what is actually happening inside you.
A DOORWAY INTO THE JOURNEY
You did not become
who you are
all at once.
Long before you could explain what was happening,
you were being formed.
What got attention.
Who could be trusted.
What failure meant.
What God was like.
That is formation.
WHAT WE CARRY FORWARD
Those lessons did not stay in the past.
They became expectations, reactions, desires, defenses, habits, and ways of seeing.
The patterns you carry have a history. They do not have to have the final word.
Jesus does more than ask us to behave differently. He meets us in the places where we have been formed and teaches you another way to see, trust, desire, and live.
That is where Reforming the Soul begins.
THE FIRST RECOGNITION
What has been
forming you?
Formation comes from many places.
Family, relationships, experiences, culture, success, failure, pain, church, and the people we have trusted all leave something behind.
Over time, those experiences influence how we see, what we expect, what we fear, what we desire, and how we respond.
FamilyRelationshipsExperiencesCultureSuccessFailurePainChurchPeople we trust
A MOMENT YOU KNOW
Notice something simple.
Something happens. Then you may notice a response in you.
SOMETHING HAPPENSYOU MAY RESPOND BY...
Someone criticizes you.→Defend yourself.
Plans suddenly change.→Try to take control.
Someone does not respond.→Assume the worst.
You feel misunderstood.→Explain yourself.
You do not know what will happen next.→Worry.
That response came from somewhere.
“For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45
A SIMPLE DEFINITION
Formation is the process by which we become the kind of people we are.
Over time, our experiences, relationships, and beliefs shape how we see, what we expect, what we desire, what we fear, what we protect, and how we respond.
Some of that formation has helped us grow. Other parts have taught us patterns that may once have protected us but now keep us from responding freely to what God is doing.
The question is not whether you have been formed, but what has formed you.
What has been forming you -
and what kind of person are you becoming?
Reforming the Soul begins by noticing what has shaped us, seeing it clearly, and becoming available to God's transforming work.
LOOK BENEATH BEHAVIOR
Behavior comes from somewhere deeper.
We usually notice problems at the level of behavior: worry, anger, impatience, control, relationship patterns, or difficulty trusting God.
But behavior comes from somewhere deeper.
- What I see→shapes what I believe.
- What I believe→shapes what I expect.
- What I expect→influences what I desire.
- What I desire→influences what I intend.
- What I intend→shapes what I choose.
- What I repeatedly choose→becomes how I live.
Reforming the Soul goes beneath behavior. The goal is not merely to manage what we do, but to allow God to reform the person from whom those behaviors come.
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Romans 12:2
THE FORMATION JOURNEY
A direction for the journey.
The four movements give formation a way forward.
See Clearly
Understand what is forming you.
Recognize the beliefs, expectations, experiences, and ways of seeing underneath your responses.
Become
Learn to walk with God.
Bring the real moments of your life into relationship with Him.
Join
Participate in what God is doing.
Become increasingly available to His work in the people and places around you.
A LIFELONG RHYTHM
Formation is not a straight line.
“For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Romans 8:29
BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE
You do not have to fix yourself before you begin.
The first step is simply to notice what is already happening.
Begin with Pay Attention