On the Curriculum and Small Group Experience:Â Your Living Soul-Full group offers a sacred opportunity to engage in spiritual practices together that lead to authentic restoration. Reading scripture or imagining who we want to become is not enough. Growth requires action through shared discipline.
What you will be learning, discussing, and living out this year will, in many ways, be counterintuitive to how you have been taught to live and survive in this world. You have formed this small community to support (not fix) one another in your efforts to develop the mind and heart of Christ.
Engaging with these teachings and practices alongside sacred companions will help you discover, or rediscover, the divine center that has always been within you, where God’s Spirit dwells with your own. In this astonishing place, God’s purpose is fulfilled as you embody Love on earth
All the practices, disciplines, and teachings presented in Living Soul-Full are intended for the sacred purpose of living fully in a human mind and body while discerning God’s will in our daily lives. Instead of turning to nebulous sources or people, our goal is to first seek God’s voice and heart for guidance.
 This group is a place to share your soul, but it is also a listening group where you are bearing witness to one another’s spiritual journeys. Listen confidentially, without attempting to offer advice or fix one another. Here, we allow others to be the experts of their own experience and be who they are without fear of judgment
On Surrendering to Love:Â Profound experiences of unconditional love often happen during the unplanned circumstances of life. God meets us there in our grief, pain, and unloveliness and pours out the Spirit upon us in a way that is felt versus known. Often it is because we our have reached our lowest point that we find ourselves desperate enough to finally surrender and submit to this unearned grace
As we move toward deeper intimacy with Christ, the Spirit gently reveals and helps us remove the inner obstacles that prevent us from living fully in divine love.
For most of us, fully surrendering to the depths of Divine Love is one of the hardest, yet most essential parts of life in Christ.
We are most fully ourselves when we can be centered in the Spirit in the present moment with nothing to promote, nothing to resist, and nothing to fear. We can be surrendered to the reality of what is because we recognize the force of Divine Love that is holding us just as we are.
On Holding Pain:Â Our human tendency to revisit and return to toxic thinking and past hurts is perhaps a way to envision a different outcome or make sense of it, as well as a futile attempt to exert control over what has already happened. If we cannot move beyond past discontent and pain, we remain trapped within our heads, unable to move into our heart space where we actually have to feel and process it.
On Spiritual Friendship: T his is an opportunity to experience a new kind of community and spiritual friendships, but it is not without risk. Few things that lead to spiritual maturity are. But together, you have the chance to create a safe, loving space where you can lower your mask of competency and let others see what’s most true about you
One of the main purposes for creating this type of non-fixing community is to give one another the chance to receive the wisdom and consolation that only God’s Spirit can provide. If we are too quick to jump in and rescue others, we deprive them of allowing God to meet their needs for love, approval, and self-worth. We want to love others into the kind of free speech that flows when vulnerability and trust are present.
On Living in the Presence of God: When we are in the present, we are not attached to “results.” Whether we succeed or fail neither inflates nor diminishes our true selves. Being present, in its very essence, is the recognition that we are not alone but continually accompanied by the person of God.
As we continue to shift from survival and desperation toward contentment and fulfillment, we recognize that the journey is not linear. It’s more like a dance, the movement between despair and rediscovery, running away and returning home again, like the prodigal, to Divine Union.
On Shame and Grace:Â Developing a healthy relationship (Dare we say friendship?) with shame also frees us to surprise others in our ability to embrace the unloved and unlovable, beginning with ourselves.
Rather than an enemy, our shame can be a severe mercy, leading to grace that renews us from the inside out. If we allow shame to take us into the presence of God for healing and unburdening, it has a holy purpose that needs to be acknowledged and embraced. If we move away from our ingrained patterns of self-condemnation or revenge-seeking and take the plunge into forgiveness and grace, what if nothing is there to break our fall? It takes great vulnerability and courage to choose the unknown.
On our personal narratives:Â Each of us has a narrative, or life story, that shapes how we move through the world as adults. Yet, our stories are also subjective, and fascinating research has shown that not all memories can be trusted. It is a beautiful thing when we allow new understandings and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to sift through our narratives and help us reframe life events in a more helpful way as our perspectives begin to shift
We may find that when we change the language of our stories, we are also open to new interpretations of the same events. If we’re willing to bring our life story into the light of God’s truth, we can weaken the power of any outdated narratives and uncover deeper meaning and new truth within them.
On our theme verse, Romans 12:1-2: Long before we had the language of neuroscience, the Apostle Paul seemed to intuitively understand the soul-shap ing power of intentional thought and action. He writes of demolishing mental strongholds to align our thinking with Christ and to participate in the Spirit’s renewing work within us-one brave new thought at a time.
On Self-Examination: Self-examination honors God. Its purpose is to help us grow into the image of Christ and become better lovers of a fractured and hurting world. Introspection should not become self-absorption or an obsession with our flaws. Instead, it can gently shine light into our hidden places and allow us to experience God’s love even there
 It is human to be hesitant to engage in self-examination out of fear of what we may find lurking in the shadows. What we ultimately discover, however, is still the self that is beloved by God. Doing this work of spiritual formation in community brings the realization that we all struggle with the same things. Our willingness to look into our own behavior and motivations honors the Creator and Bestower of Souls.
Honestly examining what we idolize always brings us back to what we most long for. Perhaps this is because it takes less energy to look to idols to save us rather than to turn to God with the pain of unfulfilled desire, trusting that Love will satisfy. (Isaiah 42:17)
On Transformation:Â Willingly engaging in the process of transformation invites us to learn from life experiences that challenge and stretch us. What we learn is often confusing, unsettling, and uncomfortable, but also offers necessary opportunities for growth and integration
.While our inner work is never finished in this lifetime, daily returning our true selves to God can become a natural rhythm. With regular practice and holy intent, this offering shapes us into our best selves for God’s glory
 Finding yourself able to move through the world more authentically with your identity intact, not enslaved to the opinions and expectations of others, is pretty glorious. Transformation is a partnership between you and the Holy Spirit. We humans simply aren’t that powerful on our own.
On Longing:Â Once we realize our deepest yearnings initially come from a pure place within our souls that wants to return to the Source of Love, the constructed self, with its counterfeit love, can then be exposed and deconstructed.
On Attachment:Â If we did not feel cared for, protected, and loved in our early years, we will most likely suffer Insecure Attachment as adults. The objects of our attachments may give us a false sense of love and security, easily becoming preoccupa tions/obsessions that begin to rule our lives. Attachment, unlike unconditional love, always expects something in return. These unhealthy attachments become life-draining at best and dangerous at worst.
When we can identify the attachments that are obstacles to living freely in Christ, we can work alongside the Holy Spirit to free us from living according to their demands with the understanding that they will never truly satisfy. We can use our limited reserves of energy to then pursue that which will fulfill the deepest desires of our souls—to be fully seen, fully known, and fully accepted.
Unhealthy Attachment falls away when we begin to see that we no longer need to identify with anything other than our own belovedness in God to validate us as humans. We are no longer dependent upon the roles we have assigned ourselves to prove our self-worth. When we examine our self-image and these roles, it is easy to see why so many of us are exhausted because of the energy they take to maintain
On Emotion: We will legitimately fear appearing weak, inadequate, or overwhelmed if we always act upon the way we feel. T here are often negative consequences for revealing that kind of vulnerability in public settings. This makes it even more vital that we have sacred companions we feel safe to reveal our “hidden selves” to.
It is counterintuitive to lean into the pain that life has conditioned us to avoid, but we were given emotions for a divine purpose. They reveal, as windows to our soul, where we are in relationship with God. God wants us to recognize our emotions, not simply as “feelings” but as potential pathways into Divine Presence.
Once we are willing to experience the depths of our emotions, they can ultimately lead us “home” to the Presence of God. It is here that The Spirit can “bear witness to our own spirit” (Romans 8:16) and speak the words our souls need to hear, both as our Comforter (John 14:26) and “ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) When we struggle to be present with our emotions in solitude, it may be because we don’t fully trust God to meet us with love instead of judgment. Consider you may be projecting human responses onto God, shaped by past experiences of rejection when we shared our emotions with others.
As with everything, intentional practice makes it easier to listen to our emotions rather than react to them unconsciously. With the counsel of our Inner Witness, we can refuse to let negativity suppress the presence of Christ within us and recover our identity as the Beloved, rather than perpetuate more pain for ourselves and others
On Discernment: When making decisions, most of us rely primarily upon our thoughts, or “head” knowledge, as we have been trained to do in most western cultures. Yet, we have been given three centers of intelligence: head, heart, and gut (or body). Learning to recognize and experience all three types of intelligence is crucial to the practice of discernment. The beauty of three is that there will always be a consensus
On Surrender:Â The ego believes that resistance is strength, but within the spiritual life, the opposite is true. Surrender is the ability to let go of the mental and emotional resistance to what IS. True surrender cannot happen until we are willing to recognize the many areas and ways we are resisting it. It is directly proportional to the trust we have in God to supply our needs
On Purpose: In Christian communities, we may overemphasize our need for a “calling” or “purpose” to the point where we can feel lost or discouraged when the details aren’t clear. We must remember, and remind others, that our truest, shared vocation is simply to walk through the world as bearers of grace-filled love.
The hope that we can live more beautifully and confidently in a human body is why we are willing to do this soul work of excavation. Many of us have been mentored by brilliant, flawed, and long-suffering Christian people who shine brightly in their freedom, having gathered up and cleared away so many of their obstacles to the acceptance of Love. These saints do not seek the spotlight. They are the light.
Our purpose, our calling, our vocation as Christians must always flow back towards Christ and his kingdom, or else our own newfound freedom and self-awareness can become its own form of idolatry. To be a contemplative, spiritually formed Christian, your personal growth cannot be your main focus. We must shed ourselves as our central point of reference and see our growth as for the primary purpose of loving God’s people.
On Identity:Â When we can identify the difference between the roles we play within task and goal-oriented living and our responsibilities as children of God, we inch further towards abundant life in Christ.Â
Envision yourself as someone others are naturally drawn to, simply because you have cultivated inner room to embody more of the Spirit of Christ, allowing it to shine through you effortlessly
On Community: In the Christian life, community is an essential practice. We cannot transcend our small ego selves and embrace the glory of our full potential without like-minded, supportive relationships. It is in “doing life” with other imperfect, troubled humans that we learn to love well and appropriately. For better or for worse, we actually belong to one another in the Body of Christ.
On Conflict:Â Staying engaged in times of conflict is counterintuitive, but where there are humans, there will be conflict. When community dynamics are supportive of healthy conflict, a strengthened and more deeply bonded congregation is the result. Conflict and intimacy are directly correlated.
On Anger: To be righteously angry also means that, after having wrestled with our deepest questions, we trust God enough to release those who have angered, hurt, and betrayed us. Again, this type of forgiveness cannot be accomplished by desire alone within a flawed human heart. We must have the humility to ask God’s Holy Spirit for the strength to throw off this encumbrance. There is nothing easy about learning to respond to inequity and oppression righteously and humbly, but those who do can change the world for good.
đź“– Live soul-full. Be transformed.
Begin your journey toward renewal and restoration today with Living Soul-Full: Renewing the Mind, Restoring the Soul.
