As humans, we are constantly changing and evolving. We’d like to believe that we are free thinkers and the sole authors of our own lives. It’s a comforting idea, especially in a culture built on the myth of the self-made individual. However, whether we realize it or not, everyone is following somebody or something when it comes to beliefs.

Writer and pastor John Mark Comer suggests the idea that everyone is a disciple of something. Essentially, spiritual formation is not optional, but is an unavoidable human reality. Comer notes that the question is never “Are you being formed?” but rather “Who or what are you being formed into?”

Our minds are narrative-driven, so our mental maps can seriously determine our trajectory. If we believe the cultural story that more money equals happiness, we will be formed into greedy people. Similarly, our habits act as a liturgy that shapes what we repeatedly do and who we become. Finally, our relationships, especially our families of origin, cause us to mirror the people we spend time with.

To understand the forces shaping you from the outside, pay attention to your daily choices. What is the first thing you reach for when you wake up in the morning? What is that background noise of your commute or rest? Who do you lean on when you're trying to discover your purpose? Because these behaviors are creating a version of you, they are never neutral. Is that version the one you actually want to become?

It’s impossible to just wake up one day at seventy and accidentally become a person of profound love and peace. Instead, this maturity requires a lifelong commitment. By intentionally replacing the world’s stories and habits with truth and practices, we rearrange our lives to stay open to God’s power to change us. In the end, we have to decide whether to be changed by God’s Spirit or to inevitably follow this world’s pattern.