Passive and Active Formation: What Is Spiritual Formation?
Spiritual formation is the lifelong process of being shaped by God into the likeness of Jesus Christ — and according to the Bible, it happens through a combination of intentional practices (like prayer and Scripture) and God’s own transforming work, which no person can produce on their own. It’s both something you do and something done to you.
That definition, borrowed from theologian Dallas Willard, sounds simple. But most people — including many longtime Christians — aren’t sure how formation actually happens, or whether they’re supposed to be working harder at it or simply waiting on God. Scripture answers that question directly, and the answer might surprise you: it’s not either/or.
Everyone Is Being Shaped by Something
Before getting to the “how,” it helps to start with a harder truth: you are being shaped right now, whether you realize it or not. Few people think of themselves as passive — most of us assume we’re the ones steering our own lives, choosing our own values, forming our own opinions. But no one is truly neutral ground. Culture, relationships, habits, and yes, your phone’s algorithm, are all actively shaping who you’re becoming. The real question isn’t whether you’re being formed. It’s what is doing the forming — and into whose image.
That’s the tension the Apostle Paul addresses in his letter to the church in Galatia, a group of believers who had drifted from the freedom of grace back toward rule-keeping. Paul doesn’t just correct their theology — he tells them what his real goal for them is.
What Does the Bible Say About Spiritual Formation?
The clearest single verse on spiritual formation in the New Testament is Galatians 4:19, where Paul writes:
“My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19)
Notice the image Paul reaches for: childbirth, not construction. It’s a striking choice. A builder controls every measurement. A mother in labor does not control the moment life takes shape inside her — she labors, but the growth itself is a mystery beyond her control. That’s precisely how Scripture describes spiritual formation: it involves real effort, but the transformation itself is God’s work, not a project you complete through sheer willpower.
Paul’s language echoes a parable Jesus told in Mark 4:26–29, about a farmer who scatters seed on the ground:
“He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” (Mark 4:27–28)
The farmer plants. The farmer doesn’t make the seed grow — the earth does that on its own, in a way even the farmer can’t fully explain. That’s the model Scripture gives for spiritual growth: intentional, active sowing, paired with a growth process only God can bring about.
Why Does Formation Happen at Church?
It’s a fair question, and one worth asking honestly: why gather at a church at all? Why not just pursue God privately?
Poet ee cummings — not a professing Christian, as far as we know — once wrote of “a little church (no great cathedral), far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying,” a church “at peace with nature,” standing in “the deathless truth of God’s presence.” It’s a striking picture: small, humble, unhurried, and entirely fixed on God rather than on the pace and pressure of the world around it.
That image points at something true. The church, at its best, isn’t a building or an event — it’s a community intentionally gathered around the work God is doing in its people. Sometimes the pull toward that kind of formation comes through someone else entirely: watching a friend carry real peace, the kind you don’t have yet, and realizing something has clearly been shaping them toward wholeness. That’s often how the desire for formation starts — not with a doctrine, but with a person whose life makes you want what they have.
Is Spiritual Formation Something I Do, or Something God Does?
Both — and this is the piece that trips people up. Spiritual formation is active: it involves real practices, often called spiritual disciplines, including reading Scripture, prayer, community, confession, silence and solitude, and sabbath rest. These aren’t rules to earn God’s approval; they’re more like the farmer scattering seed. You’re placing yourself where growth can happen.
But spiritual formation is also passive in the sense that no one can manufacture their own transformation through effort alone. Paul makes this explicit in 2 Corinthians:
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The transformation “comes from the Lord.” Theologian Dallas Willard summarized this balance in a single sentence worth remembering: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it’s opposed to earning.” You put in real effort — but you’re not earning your way toward becoming more like Jesus. You’re positioning yourself to receive what only God can do.
What Should I Actually Do to Grow Spiritually?
A helpful starting question isn’t “How do I try harder?” but “What am I beholding?” 2 Corinthians 3:18 ties transformation directly to what we behold, or fix our attention on. Practically, that means paying honest attention to what’s filling your mind day to day — is it Scripture and prayer, or is it hours of scrolling, worry, or noise? Whatever has your attention is shaping you, for better or worse.
From there, spiritual formation gets practical through a handful of consistent habits: unhurried time in Scripture, honest prayer, real community with other believers, regular confession, moments of silence and solitude, and a weekly sabbath rhythm. None of these instantly produces maturity. But over time, gradually, “from one degree of glory to another,” they position a person to be shaped by God rather than by the pace and pressure of the world around them.
FAQ: Spiritual Formation
What is the definition of spiritual formation? Spiritual formation is the lifelong process of being shaped by God into the likeness of Jesus Christ, involving both intentional spiritual practices and God’s own transforming work.
What Bible verse talks about spiritual formation? Galatians 4:19 (“until Christ is formed in you”) and 2 Corinthians 3:18 (“being transformed into the same image”) are two of the clearest New Testament passages on spiritual formation.
Are spiritual disciplines the same thing as spiritual formation? Not quite. Spiritual disciplines — like prayer, Scripture, and sabbath — are the practices that position a person for growth. Spiritual formation is the actual transformation God brings about through them.
Can I grow spiritually without practicing spiritual disciplines? Scripture presents spiritual formation as both active and passive — practices matter, but the growth itself is God’s work. Neglecting practices like prayer and Scripture removes the “soil” where that growth tends to happen.
Keep Exploring This Series
This message was part of “I Wonder,” a series exploring the mysteries of the Christian faith at Christ’s Family Church in Davenport, Iowa, serving the greater Quad Cities. If this raised more questions than it answered, that’s the point — we’d love to wonder alongside you.
Join us Sunday at 9:30am at Christ’s Family Church, watch or listen to the full message, or find a Life Group where you can keep talking about what it looks like for Christ to be formed in you. Also, don’t forget that on September 13th we are launching a second service! Service times will be 9 + 10:40a each Sunday!
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