Christoform spirituality

Mario Bravo-Lamas, April 20, 2025

“Consider this with me for a moment: What if spiritual formation were not an add-on to your church’s work, but the mission of your church? Let me say it clearly: spiritual formation was never conceived as an addition to the work of the church, because spiritual formation is the mission of the church.” Dave Ripper in Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus

SUMMARY

At Christforma, we understand Christian spirituality as an integral life that unites mind, heart, and action: believing, loving, and acting. It is a journey in which God’s truth shapes our minds, Christ’s love transforms our hearts, and the Spirit’s presence guides our actions. This is the path to true human flourishing: a good, full, and purposeful life (eudaimonia) that embraces ethical, relational, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual dimensions.

This flourishing is not merely the fruit of duties, techniques, experiences, or healthy habits, but of a spiritual formation that transforms the person from within through a life in communion with the triune God, restoring in us the image of Christ. This spirituality is not fragmented or merely functional, but unified by the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the guidance of the Spirit.

To believe is to inhabit the salvation story of the triune God, revealed in Jesus Christ, as our own story. To love is to live as beloved sons and daughters, united with Christ, so that His life takes shape within us. From that union, we imitate Jesus, not as an external copy, but as the fruit of an inner transformation. To act is to embody that faith and love in the everyday, actively participating in the community and in God’s reconciling mission in the world.

This spirituality does not seek quick results or superficial solutions, but a life deeply rooted in Christ, formed by the Spirit, and oriented to the Father. In an individualistic and divided world, it offers a trinitarian, incarnational, relational alternative oriented toward human flourishing, understood as the full development of our humanity in the likeness of Christ.

Christforma is the path where truth forms us, love compels us, and action commits us to God’s redemptive story. It is living as disciples: not merely knowing about Christ, but living in Him, becoming like Him, and bringing His presence to the world.

CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY & SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Christforma is a model of holistic Christian spiritual formation, understood as the process of allowing God to form Christ in us.

In a world where spirituality often revolves around personal well-being, self-discovery, or the demand for self-improvement, the message of Jesus invites us to something much deeper: to surrender to God, to be transformed from within. Christian spirituality is not just theories, emotions, or practices. It is living in Christ, allowing God to form in us the heart of Christ: a heart that believes, loves, and acts with Him, oriented toward the flourishing of life.

A Christ-centered Christian spirituality.
A Trinitarian, incarnational, relational, and missional approach.
Integral transformation of the person as the goal.
The importance of integrating doctrine (believe), affections (love), and practice (act).

WHAT WE BELIEVE

To believe is to inhabit the salvation history of the triune God, revealed in Christ.

God is Trinity. God is love. From eternity, the Father has loved the Son in the Spirit. He did not create us out of need, but out of love. That love cannot be contained: it creates, saves, and dwells with us. The Trinity is not just a theory; it’s an invitation to communion, to participate in that living, real, and intimate love.

“Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

Christ, our center. Jesus is God with us. He doesn’t just teach the way—He is the Way. He shows us what God is like… and what we can become. His life, death, and resurrection show how deeply He loves us and how we can live. His cross is the summit of love. His resurrection, the living promise.

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

We live in a story of salvation. The Bible is not just a book: it’s the story of God rescuing the world. Sin wounded us, but God came to save us. This story isn’t over—it’s headed toward new creation. And you are invited to be part of it. You and I are called to live in that story: being restored, healed, and sent to love.

“The One seated on the throne said: I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

WHAT WE LOVE

To love is to live as beloved children, united to Christ, so that his life may be formed within us. From this union, we imitate him: not as an external copy, but as the fruit of an inner transformation.

Identity in Christ: We are loved first. God doesn’t love out of obligation, but because of who He is. That first love heals us, restores us, and calls us to live with purpose. All true spirituality begins there—not from effort, but from participation. It’s not about behaving well, but about living from your new identity in Christ.

“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)

Union with Christ. Following Jesus is not admiring Him from afar—it’s being united with Him. In that union, our desires are transformed. We love what He loves. We serve as He served. The Spirit gives us a new heart to live this way.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you” (John 15:4)

Imitating Christ, love incarnate, means allowing the Spirit to form in us a heart like His. A love that does not flee from pain, that serves with joy, and truly forgives. Being Christian is not only believing or feeling—it’s living like Jesus.

“The love of God has been poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5)

WHAT WE DO

To act is to embody that faith and that love in everyday life, in community and mission.

The Person: Living from a new identity. Every ordinary act can be a response to the Father’s love. Prayer, fasting, meditation, service—practices that shape us to live as children of the Father. Discipleship is embodying the gospel in daily life, with the help of the Spirit.

“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17)

The Church: A community that practices faith. You don’t walk alone. The church is the workshop where the Spirit shapes you, where love takes form in simple things: growing, failing, forgiving, sharing, serving, waiting together.

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5)

The Mission: Participating in God’s redemptive work. Mission is not an external task—it’s letting Christ’s life extend from you to the world. Not as imposition, but as the incarnation of God’s love. We serve, care, proclaim, and restore because we are part of His mission. Loving our neighbor, caring for creation, seeking justice, and showing Jesus is alive… with your life.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16)

A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPIRITUALITY

It is not a technique or formula, but a life rooted in Christ, guided by the Spirit, and oriented toward the Father; in an individualistic world, we offer a Trinitarian, incarnational, and relational spirituality, because it is not just about knowing about Christ, but about living in Him, becoming like Him, and bringing His presence into the world, for that is the heart of discipleship; as the apostle Paul wrote:

“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

That is our desire. That is our path. This is Cristoforma.

“It’s about following and imitating Jesus, and helping others to follow and imitate Him. It’s for everyone, not just for a few.”

— E. K. Strawser in Centering Discipleship

PATH TOWARD HUMAN FLOURISHING

At Cristoforma, we understand human flourishing as a full life that arises from spiritual formation in communion with God.

In recent decades, theologians such as Volf, Pennington, and Jipp have recovered a vision of human flourishing as the fruit of communion with God in Christ through the Spirit, understanding the full life as participation in the divine life that transforms the believer and orients them toward love, justice, and the good of others; within this horizon, Cristoforma emerges as a model of spiritual formation that integrates believing, loving, and acting, conceiving flourishing as a living and growing union with Christ, because we believe that true well-being is attained when the image of God in us is restored to the form of Christ, and for that reason, we accompany individuals and communities on a journey of transformation where believing, loving, and acting are integrated as the expression of a life centered on Him.