My response to a total stranger’s disrespect in the supermarket shocked me. Although no harsh words were exchanged, I flounced through the checkout line with a surly attitude toward everyone around me, including the undeserving cashier. I knew my reaction was unreasonable. The slight wasn’t personal. That person didn’t know me, and I didn’t know them. Yet the feelings of exasperation and anger only intensified as I loaded my bags into the car. I should know better. I teach spiritual formation in college, but this was not a superior spiritually formed moment.
I sank into the driver’s seat while the heat continued to build—not only from the scorching summer day but also from the relentless rant stomping around my mind. I was seething. Every angry thought seemed to propagate another. Why couldn’t I let it go? Why?
Then full diagnostic mode kicked in.
I realized it wasn’t just that stranger’s disrespect. It was the accumulation of disappointments, grievances, stinky attitudes, petty failures, foolish mistakes, and countless, mundane, thankless tasks. That was the “why.” Even so, I knew those circumstances were merely excuses for a poor spiritual response that had produced a poor emotional reaction.
With a desperate sigh, I made a choice. I would stop, examine my heart, and surrender my reaction to the Holy Spirit. Stop it, check it, and change it.
Diagnosis complete.
Treatment: a spiritual formation review, refocus, and reset.
The tools were already in my spiritual toolbox. I needed to open God’s Word and read it. I needed to meditate on its truth. I needed to pour out my frustrations to my heavenly Father, confess my sin, sit quietly in His presence, and listen for His voice. In other words, I needed to practice what I teach. That day, the grocery store became my classroom––my continuing education.
As a professor at Manna University, this ordinary moment became an extraordinary reminder that God is just as interested in transforming my reactions in a grocery store as He is in shaping my life in the classroom as a teacher and as an eternal student. Spiritual formation is never a one-time event. It is the lifelong process of continually submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit, who forms and reforms…and transforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Discipleship programs provide invaluable tools for that transformation, but tools alone accomplish nothing. Transformation happens daily when we choose to surrender ourselves to God’s Word and His presence, allowing Him to cleanse us, renew our minds, and deepen our faith development.
Christian college student life is no less demanding than life at any other institution of higher learning. In some ways, it is even more challenging. Academic expectations are accompanied by the desire—and sometimes the pressure—to live according to a higher spiritual and moral standard. Left to ourselves, that standard can feel overwhelming. It was never meant to be sustained by human effort alone. It is sustained through a living, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Spiritual formation isn’t tested only in the classroom or the sanctuary, but in the checkout line, the parking lot, and every ordinary moment where we’re invited to become more like Christ.
That is why spiritual formation is foundational at Manna University.
CLG201: Spiritual Formation is a course in Manna University’s Personal Formation Core. Students learn more than spiritual disciplines; they learn how to cultivate a vibrant relationship with Christ by practicing habits that shape the heart, renew the mind, and strengthen the soul. As they build their spiritual toolbox and learn how to use it faithfully, they become equipped not only to persevere through life’s challenges but also to influence the world for the glory of Jesus Christ.
Julie Johnson, Adjunct Professor at Manna University