Christian Centering Practices

How to recenter your life in a growing and deeper relationship with Jesus

Compass is a spiritual formation newsletter produced by The Compass Center, a Christian spiritual formation center. It researches the hunger for a deeper relationship with God within the Christian community and culture and provides resources, experiences, and community that help people find the way to a deeper life with Jesus. In this spiritual formation newsletter, I’ll identify three ways that lead you out of the spiritual shallows and into deeper, more transformative spiritual growth.

Two Reasons Christians Hunger for Spiritual Growth

Christians hunger for a deeper relationship with Jesus for various reasons, but here are two top reasons:

1. Spiritual Growth: People who have a relationship with Jesus are not satisfied with a shallow relationship with Jesus. We want to understand the teachings of Jesus better, live out our faith more authentically, and experience personal transformation.

2. Intimacy and Connection: Many Christians desire a deeper connection with Jesus to experience intimacy and closeness with God. They seek to cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus. They are not content merely to know some things about Jesus. They have a strong hunch that a deeper relationship with Jesus is available here and now.

Two Challenges and Obstacles Christians Face when Hungry for Spiritual Growth

There are various reasons why Christians may quit growing spiritually, but here are two common reasons:

1. Distractions and Busyness: One of the main reasons Christians struggle to grow spiritually is the busyness and distractions of life. Caught in the cult of hurry, technology, entertainment, and worldly pursuits, Christians can go long stretches with little time and energy devoted to spiritual practices that lead to spiritual growth.

2. Lack of Resources: Practices and discipline are essential for spiritual growth. However, the standard practices of the North American church seldom offer the resources, experiences, culture, and community that lead from the shallows to the depths where a deeper life with Jesus is found. As a result, too many of us begin to stagnate and eventually quit pursuing spiritual growth. Later, we might become church leavers because we feel the church offers little help in finding the path that leads to a deeper life with Jesus, when in fact, it should be a primary source of these resources.

Three Steps that Lead to Spiritual Growth

There are various ways to begin centering your life in a life of spiritual growth. Continue reading below to find and make these practices your own.

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