How We Grow

When Paul thinks of his friends in different churches, he has a clear vision of who they can become. It has nothing to do with what job they work or what personality they might have or even if they are appropriately moral or not. The vision is for them to become everything they were destined to become in Christ. Here’s how he puts it in the book of Galatians:

…until Christ is formed in you. - Galatians 4:19

Christ being formed in us is not about us losing our personality. Theologically speaking, we’re all made in the image of God. Another way to say that is that each of us is a unique representation of Christ. But there’s a lot of mess and mud and muck that’s gotten piled on top of that original design. So Paul’s vision is that we’d have the very character and love and generosity and justice of Jesus formed in our inner beings. That way, each of us can be uniquely us - with our personality and quirks - and yet fully flourishing, fully alive.

Can you imagine what you would be like if you were fully alive, fully formed? Take some time to imagine that.