Episode 9 - God-Centered Reflection

What if your spiritual growth has stalled because you’ve been starting with the wrong question? We explore the surprising shift that moves faith from information to transformation: asking God first. Not asking what we think or feel as the final word, but inviting God to interpret our reactions, motives, and stories. That single move—God-centered reflection—turns Bible study into formation, prayer into dialogue, and lessons into a life that looks more like Jesus.

We break down a clear definition of God-centered reflection and show how it differs from self-reflection without shaming our emotions or intellect. Drawing from the way Jesus lived—doing what He saw the Father doing—we share practical steps to slow down, listen, and respond. A simple teach-back moment becomes a case study in how reflection deepens attention and roots truth. We also reframe hardship: rather than rushing to protect ourselves or those we love, we ask what God might be growing through tension, endurance, and trust.

Across the conversation, you’ll hear language you can use this week: “Who am I asking first?” You’ll learn why renewal of the mind (Romans 12) requires time, surrender, and honest prayer. We talk about letting Scripture read us, naming our inner Pharisee when it shows up, and embracing God’s gentle leadership in daily choices. As inner life recenters on God, our outer life gains integrity—equipping us for reconciliation, compassion, and fruit that lasts.

If you’re ready to move beyond collecting insights and into a life reshaped by God’s presence, this episode offers a clear path forward. Listen, practice the questions, and share what changes when you ask God first. If this helped you, subscribe, leave a review, and send it to a friend who’s hungry for real transformation.

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hey listeners, this is Scott again. Amy and I are here, ready to dive into the next episode, and we're excited that you guys are joining us. You know, last week we talked, last couple of weeks, we talked about uh what does it mean to be a disciple and discipleship, kind of part two of that. And today we're gonna dive into something that may be a kind of source of tension, I guess, but more than anything, an explanation, like a much more concrete episode, at least in my mind, to try to explain why we do and why we found value in the lessons that you've been listening to. And odds are, if you're still listening, you may have begun to discover some value yourself in this. But one thing that I have learned in trying to share some of these lessons with people is that a lot of people hear these lessons and are in the in the custom of just like listening for the sense for the sense of context, I mean content, excuse me, and they're hearing for the sake of just hearing information or hearing a lesson. But there are other people that listen and they're more natural, more naturally inclined to let the information that they've heard search them. And what I've discovered is in my mindset is that we really need to kind of help you guys recognize that the very thing that we're trying to invite you to discover, as we're all, as Amy and I both have learned to become reflective as we listen and learn and read and pray. And um, and so we're gonna talk about that today and uh unpack that a bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah, so today we're really talking about God-centered reflection, and so I want to kind of just contrast the two self-reflection, which is good. There's nothing wrong with that, but that tends to be more what do I think about this? How am I feeling? A lot of times in counseling, someone might ask you that it's important to know what feelings you're experiencing, nothing wrong with that. Uh what makes sense to me, and maybe what is my interpretation of what I've just heard. But when but what Scott and I are talking about is not about counseling, it's really how we're processing the things that we're learning to follow Jesus. And this is when all these lessons that we've talked about have the critical factor that it's needed, and that is what we're calling God-centered reflection. So rather than asking myself what I think about all of it, this is allowing God to be the one that I'm seeking first. So I'm saying, Lord, what is going on inside of me? Why did I have that reaction under the surface? Tell me, Lord, what is true here? And maybe, Lord, tell me what you say about this. What do you say is good? And so this is very different. It is going to the source of all wisdom and knowledge and art to Jesus, our rabbi, and we are seeking him first on all of these matters, and trusting that his spirit is going to work inside of us, not that we're just gonna get knowledge, but that our souls will be shaped to be more like him. So, just for clarity's purposes, God-centered reflection is the intentional practice of bringing our interior world before God and allowing his voice to interpret what's happening inside.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Yeah, well said, I think that you know, understanding that in order to grow spiritually, I don't know how we continue to grow spiritually without learning to become reflective and engaging a practice of reflection. And so we're all naturally pretty reflective people because we're constantly asking questions, well, what do I think? But we're not necessarily all as comfortable recognizing that we're doing that and then looking to bring about change in our lives. Like, what is it that's happening here? Like, really, what we're talking about in the God-centered reflection is living like Jesus lived, where you know, you you see repeatedly throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus saying, I simply do what I see my father doing and say what I hear my father saying. That meant that he lived in a state of conversation, interaction, of seeking the will of his father wherever he was with, you know, whatever he was doing. And so he lived reflectively in this place and dialogue, we would call that prayer with the father, and said, I simply join the father in what I see him doing. And so we're really trying to center everything around discovering, you know, in the God-centered reflection, God, what is it that you're doing in me? There is also, I think, another discipline where it's God, what are you doing around me? But we're not going to talk about that at the moment. It's like when we're introducing these lessons, we're introducing them from a standpoint of, God, you're at the center. And how do we grow and learn to have you functionally at the center of my life? So, you know, a growth assumes that there's a shift that happens, right? Spiritual growth requires the practice of recentering and choosing again and again to ask God, what is happening in us before we decide for ourselves what we think about a matter. And so the way I like to say this is who you ask the question of is who you're putting at the center of your life. Right? If I look at this scenario of a circumstance in my life and I just look at it and I make up my idea and opinion of whether or not I think this thing is good or not, I'll quickly create a narrative based on my own thinking that never paused to invite God or to consider what He may be saying about the narrative. And so, you know, as a parent, I could look at something that's challenging or difficult for one of my children. And, you know, without any level of discipline, just imagine that as a negative thing, a hardship in their life. But what we see biblically is God uses hardship and often instigates hardship to bring about something that brings about maturity, that leads people to be complete, you know, that there's a, that there's a deeper relationship that's fostered between him and them through hardship. Like hardship changes us. We've talked about like tensions are the very place that God often does his greatest work in our life. And so if I was just quickly pointing at something and saying, well, that looks like it's going to be hard for my child, and I don't want them to have to deal with hardship without letting God, you know,'s truth direct me to see that there are absolutely times and a lot of circumstances that the Lord uses hardship in order to bring about good in each of our lives. And so we're making him, we're putting him at the center. And that's what we're talking about is if you're going to make the most of like the little lessons that we're suggesting, that we need to recognize that there is an awareness and a reflection internally that we need to pass those through. Amy and I have each used you know these lessons in conversations and in discipleship with other people. And Amy, you were telling me about one of the friends that you met with that that you went through the first lesson with. And I think after the first lesson, they're like, okay, and that was the culture of the kingdom. They're like, okay, that's uh that's really interesting. You know, it's a creative way of kind of imagining something. But this is really simple. Like, can next week can we do like two or three of these lessons? And tell me what explain, remember that story, kind of tell the tell the listeners what what happened in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Yeah, so I didn't just tell that as we were discussing the culture of the kingdom, like it had not taken root, because because there's a lot there. And so it was funny to me that her response was, oh, that was that was quick. We can do a couple of these a week. And I was like, yeah, no, I don't think so. I had a totally different idea for next week. I think we need to repeat the same lesson, but we're gonna do it differently. I'm proposing that you teach this lesson to me as if I know nothing about it. And she was like, uh-oh, okay. And she did it, and she did amazing. And when we met the next week, she was like, Whoa, this, this was a lot, and it was just the difference in the way she approached it, like, because the second week she really sat in it and reflected in it and thought through it. Like it was just the interaction was different.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Exactly. And it's not that we're trying to make a lot of these little lessons that we're talking about. We're trying to make a lot about Jesus Christ being the center of our life and learning how to live with him on the throne, and learning how to live in this place that my heart, my life, my interest, and my thinking are all at a place of being surrendered to who he is and what he wants for my life. And so without learning to engage this God-centered reflection, like teaching just otherwise is just it's information. And we've all grown up in an education model that basically taught us to retain information long enough to regurgitate it on a test, but there may not necessarily be a transformation that that information gave us. And so by learning how to slow down and how to engage the information that we're that we're talking about and the information that we gain by reading scripture, then we we learn to step into a contemplative state where we're where we're seeking to be transformed into God's image. Like we were created in his image due to sin. We all became someone different than who God intended for us to be. And Jesus' invitation is for us to return and to be transformed, as we hear about in Romans chapter 12. Like do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so this is an engagement and this is a practice of that. And it begins with reflection. And so again, teaching otherwise would just be information. It would be a conviction that, you know, was ultimately my opinion. It would be growth would therefore become an option. But with learning how to become reflective and engage God in reflection, then teaching becomes a mirror for me to look into, and where that conviction becomes an invitation to the life that Christ is inviting me to, and growth becomes something that I participate with Him in. And so it creates this invitation and this work of transformation in the process that in the Christian world we we call sanctification of being transformed and renewed into the people that God created us to be. Oh, that was a lot that I just said. Hopefully you're starting to get a little bit of clarity on not just kind of the what we're talking about, but why we're talking about it. One of my favorite, you know, mentors. I wish it was a man that I had had an opportunity to meet, but you hear his name being mentioned a lot in the church world today. His name's Dallas Willard. Dallas famously said that the will is transformed by experience, not information. And that's what I've just been referring to. Like that, you know, we could potentially a person could read the Bible or memorize a book of the Bible and be able to quote or recite that book of the Bible to someone else, but potentially not have that word bring about a transformation in them. And so when we're seeking to be disciples of Jesus, again, our just our you know definition of that that we work from the last few weeks is a disciple is someone who's living to become like Jesus in every way, then ultimately we are seeking to be people that are looking to engage change and transformation in who we are. And so if we're gonna live to become like him, then we have to have reflection as a core point in how we engage a spiritual life. Amy, what are you hearing in all this?

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Yeah, I mean, I just think it's so important, especially when you and I talk about how we're from different parts of the country, surrounded by different cultures. And I live in a very religious culture, and lots of people do Bible study, lots of people read their Bibles, lots of people know a lot of scripture, but that does not always mean that lots of people are becoming more and more like Jesus in every way. And so I think this is a really wonderful thing for us to talk about, and hopefully it's a great invitation, not a shaming criticism, but a great invitation to do good things in a better way, you know, right to read your Bible and ask the Lord to let it read you. And he will, like his spirit will do that, and that's when we start experiencing our souls being changed. So yeah, I think this is so important, it's just such a critical piece, like because anybody can listen to this podcast and get some really good information, but you know, unless we all uh really seek to allow the Lord to work in us and show us uh how he wants to change us or where he wants to invite us into something he has for us. I mean, until we do that, we're really not going to change.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Right. And the the things that we're that we're presenting in these episodes, and again, we recognize that today's episode is different than and probably has a different pulse than the others. You know, we're not trying to create some intellectual framework or or theological position where we're inviting people to agree or disagree with us. What our heart is, is to invite or create some tools for what it's like to have Christ at the center of our life and our thinking and ultimately become a transforming opportunity for the spirit to move and bring change in our lives where we're living to become like Jesus. We're not, you know, trying to ask people, hey, do you agree with our lesson? We're trying to just present what we've been experiencing of being able to come before the Father and the value of what it means to come to Him and say, Lord, what is it that you're doing in me? What is the change that you're inviting? Because the it is literally an invitation to breathe in the life that you are offering here and now. And so I want to embrace that change. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it's just super refreshing. But ultimately, it always leads us to a practice of slowing down and making him the center, learning how to come before the Father and ask him what's happening right now, learning how to listen and learning how to have, you know, the lesson of the broken water become our main thing. Like the very center of that lesson was, you know, I want what you want, Lord, more than anything else. And where when I have the days where I don't even care what I think about something, I just want the Lord to speak into whatever it is he wants, whether it means it's going to be something that's challenging for me or something that's easy for me. Like I don't even want, like, I have moments and days where I don't even care about that. I just my heart is hungry for God, whatever it is you want in this. And that's what I want. Right. And that that's ultimately a place of surrender and learning how to live life and surrender.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

You know, I I think it's probably good for me to bring this up, that like this is not something where we've arrived at this. I mean, right, like that's why we call it in it together. Like we're we're learning these things as we're going. And case in point, I am currently doing a lint study and have have been encountering this very thing because when I went into this study, I was feeling my inner Pharisee coming out and checking the box of all the things to do right in this study. And then I was becoming that Pharisee that I was like, oh, I don't agree with that. I don't think that's done the right way. And then I had to pause and go, hmm, feeling some tension here. Clearly, the Lord is at work. And what I have said is that He is challenging me with even into in this study, and I'm really enjoying it. I don't want to make it sound like I'm not, but but I think he's challenging me to recognize that I do have that tendency to have an inner furnacy and to be judgmental of something and to learn. To get past that, to give back to him, let him handle the Pharisee and let me just enjoy what the Lord has for me and to grow in grace and charity and love towards myself or anyone else that I perceive to be the Pharisee.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

That's good. You know, ultimately, if you're hearing what we're trying to share with you today, is like we're just trying to make everything that we're talking about relational in and that the relationship being between ourselves and the Father and learning how to live life surrendered. And what I found is the more that my heart is interested in that, the more I encounter him to be a gentle, loving, patient, kind, all-wise person, lovingly putting his arm around me and leading me through what he has for me next. And there are a lot of days that that is just absolute gold when that's happened. Like if we don't learn to engage internal transformation and invite that and want that relational component, then we can't be trust, trusted, you know, to be his hands and his feet externally into the world. Like he his desire is that we become agents of reconciliation in the world. And so there's an internal, authentic change that he is coming to bring to set our hearts on fire, hungry to seek him. And from that place, he will use us to be his hands and feet to bear fruit, you know, in abundance that brings glory to the Father. And so he restores us internally so he can express himself through us relationally into the world. So I think we're we're kind of getting to the end of this, Amy. And I just want to thank the listeners for being a part of this. Hopefully, this has clarified some of why and how we engage what it means to be a disciple, living to become like him in every way possible. And with that, we're seeking to be transformed and renewed daily. One of the major ways that he does that is us learning to be reflective and have God at the center of everything.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Yeah, just just kind of repeating some of the things that we've already said. God's not asking us to be hyper introspective, He's He's simply inviting us into deeper dependence. And he already knows what's happening in us. He just wants to be the one that we seek first. So who we ask reveals who sits at the center of light. And I thought that was a good sticking point.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Who are we asking?

SPEAKER_00 25:22

And all we're asking is, you know, come join us in seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and trust that everything else he'll make available. So thank you guys for listening. We'll look forward to what we got in store next week. Take care.