Formational events in life are ones that impact who we are and help determine how we live our lives. Sometimes these are significant, one-time events that change something about us. Others are not single events, but rather a series of things or people that slowly shape our lives. Yet others are people who work in our lives, who encourage us to improve, or who lovingly point out areas where we can grow.
In Baptism, we are introduced into a whole community of people that share much in common. In fact, when we are baptized as children, the whole community into which we are introduced takes on the responsibility of shaping us in the image of Christ. They do so by sharing the story of God with us, by pointing us to God's action throughout history, and especially by pointing us to God's great saving work in Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection.
We are formed in our interactions with God's people. In the Proverbs it says that, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. We are formed by the presence of other Christians in our lives. That is why it is so vitally important to be with other Christians, and to be grown by those further along the faith road.
We are formed by our fellow Christians, and they are also formed by us. While our Christian faith is intensely personal, it is also pervasively communal. Without others, our formation suffers. With others, we are formed and grow. Painfully at times, yes, but those painful times often form us the most.
In Baptism, we are introduced into a whole community of people that share much in common. In fact, when we are baptized as children, the whole community into which we are introduced takes on the responsibility of shaping us in the image of Christ. They do so by sharing the story of God with us, by pointing us to God's action throughout history, and especially by pointing us to God's great saving work in Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection.
We are formed in our interactions with God's people. In the Proverbs it says that, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. We are formed by the presence of other Christians in our lives. That is why it is so vitally important to be with other Christians, and to be grown by those further along the faith road.
We are formed by our fellow Christians, and they are also formed by us. While our Christian faith is intensely personal, it is also pervasively communal. Without others, our formation suffers. With others, we are formed and grow. Painfully at times, yes, but those painful times often form us the most.
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