{"id":45491,"date":"2008-07-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/bono-on-spiritual-formation\/"},"modified":"2008-07-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-21T00:00:00","slug":"bono-on-spiritual-formation","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/bono-on-spiritual-formation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bono on Spiritual Formation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time&hellip;. I have heard of people who have life-changing, miraculous turnarounds, people set free from addiction after a single prayer, relationships saved where both parties &quot;let go, and let God.&quot; But it was not like that for me. For all that &quot;I was lost, I am found,&quot; it is probably more accurate to say, &quot;I was really lost. I&#39;m a little less so at the moment.&quot; And then a little less and a little less again. That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting the computer at regular intervals, reading the small print of the service manual. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years, though, and it is not over yet.<\/p>\n\n<p>&mdash;Bono, lead singer of U2<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[405,409],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3557,3749,3776,3793,3795,3921,3983,4073,4104,4154,4271,4275,4329,4380,4394,4448,4519,4611,4679,4699,4754,4783,4882,4905,4907,4916,5041,5043,5046,5049,5062,5181],"tax_ctp_topics":[382,384,394],"class_list":["post-45491","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-change","tax_ctp_tags-dedication","tax_ctp_tags-devotion","tax_ctp_tags-discipleship","tax_ctp_tags-disciplines","tax_ctp_tags-experiencing-god","tax_ctp_tags-fellowship-with-christ","tax_ctp_tags-godliness","tax_ctp_tags-growth","tax_ctp_tags-holiness","tax_ctp_tags-international-day-of-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-intimacy","tax_ctp_tags-knowing-god","tax_ctp_tags-listening","tax_ctp_tags-lostness","tax_ctp_tags-meditation","tax_ctp_tags-national-day-of-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-patience","tax_ctp_tags-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-presence-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-quiet-time","tax_ctp_tags-reflection","tax_ctp_tags-sanctification","tax_ctp_tags-see-you-at-the-pole","tax_ctp_tags-seeking-god","tax_ctp_tags-self-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-desire","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-growth","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-thirst","tax_ctp_tags-transformation"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bono on Spiritual Formation - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/bono-on-spiritual-formation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bono on Spiritual Formation - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time&hellip;. 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