Christian Transformation & Growth -The Unified Model

Our life today is affected by our past experiences, especially emotional wounds. Hence, there is a need to investigate the past and obtain closure. Such practices are known as inner healing. Recently, with the development of Positive Psychology, there has been a shift in trend from fixing problems to growing your strengths for excellence. We present here the unified model ... under the general practice of living and following the Holy Spirit, we discover and develop our strength to glorify God. We also, when guided by the Holy Spirit, dig back into our past to face our hurts and get the needed healing.

After we have been saved, we begin the journey of growth and transformation, to becoming more and more like Christ (Rom 8:29). In the process of growth, we don't rely on our own ability but depend on the new identity and the "Christ within" (Col 1:27, 2Co 4:7). We are to live out our salvation (Phi 2:12b).

When we are saved, it is our spirit that is born anew (The Tripartite Man). Our soul and body remain the same. God did not remove our past but just changed our spiritual identity. Our new identity is strong enough to face up to the hurts of the past and overcome the challenges ahead. 

• We are complete in Christ, Col 2:10. 
• Christ has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness 2 Pet 1:3. 

We just need to feed and let the new identity grow up and lead our soul and body. In this growth process, we are to learn how to use the power of God within to overcome our past and live up to the new image of Christ (See Christ within and Glory without in How to be King).

Two Forces at Work

There are two forces at work, as shown in the diagram below:

1. One is the resistance to stopping our growth.

• Our sins and past hurts in our Souls would like to drag us down
• Our past unsettled sin, disobedience. Sins that we face up to with confession and repentance will not bind us. While God forgives all our sins, past, present, and even future, through Christ Jesus' full payment on the Cross two thousand years ago, we have to face up to our sins to break free from them. 
• Soul Hurts: refers to emotional wounds, rejections, and abuses that we suffered in the past. Some of the hurts we retain as bitterness and hatred. Others were stored in our subconscious and raised up now and then to trouble us.
• Ungodly Beliefs (or Wrong Beliefs about the Truth), such as thinking of God not as a loving Father but as a fearful, judgmental, and vengeful God, are really meant to catch and punish sins. Performance for acceptance and love is also a big lie that binds us to insecurity. See Journey of Life - Victory or Defeat.
• Generation Curse. The curse of ancestor sins not dealt with. 
• Mental Illness.
  
• Devil's resistance.
  The devil will like to harass us and resist our growth. The devil will 
• do it directly or 
• uses others (e.g., Using Peter in 16:23 to stop Jesus from going to the cross)
• even circumstances

2. The Other is the Forward Moving Power.

• New Identity of Godly character, righteousness. Talents are given by God. The key is focused on the Holy Spirit, the strength and talents that God has given, and managing the weaknesses. Good habit formation and character development take time. Hope, focus on the future good, the prize, forgetting the past, as Paul exhorted us in Php 3:12-14.
  
• Holy Spirit & Christ within, spiritual gifts, guidance, motivation.

These two, unloading and running forward, are given by Paul in Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are emcompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

An expanded version is shown below:

Strategies for Growth

The strategies for our growth are based on 2 verses in the Bible.

1. To grow, we could get rid of the load of past sins and past emotional baggage.

This is done through inner healing methods like TPM (Theophostic Prayer Ministry), Dr. Grant Mullen's "Emotionally Free", and where the Bible and Holy Spirit are involved in facing the hurts, the lies, the forgiveness, and the healing with the love of God (Rom 8:2)
This 1st strategy only returns a person to normal. It is not enough for excellent and victorious living. We need to apply the 2nd strategy.

2. To move towards our Unique Calling and the Vision that God has set for us.

We must discover for ourselves our unique calling from God. Our unique calling is related to the talents or giftings that God has so created us. On top of these talents, we acquire skills and knowledge that result in strengths for achieving high performance. We also rely on the Spiritual Gifts(1Cor 12) that God has given to each of us. We live and walk by the Spirit, Gal 5:18, 22-25. (* Thanks to Desmond for pointing out this error, change to Gal from Rom in the original posting.

The various growth models are shown in the diagram below:

 

1. For John's Model of "Child-Adult-Father" see Bible Study 1 John Chapter 2 The Stages of Spiritual Growth.
2. See also  Five Habits for Effective Christian Living
3. For the Six Stage Spiritual Growth Model, see Stages of Faith: A Map for the Spiritual Journey(the linked file no longer exists), which can refer to this   or this

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Update 19-1-2026 

Gemini AI gave the following comments:

The article on "Christian Transformation & Growth – The Unified Model" presents a balanced, holistic view of spiritual development. It moves away from the idea that Christianity is just about "sin management" and instead frames it as a dynamic journey of becoming more like Christ.

Here are some thoughts and observations on the key concepts presented:

1. The "Unified Model": Healing + Growth

The author, Lim Liat, effectively combines two often-separated schools of thought:

• The "Backward" Look (Inner Healing): Dealing with past emotional wounds, "ungodly beliefs," and generational baggage. This is essentially the "unloading" phase.

• The "Forward" Look (Positive Growth): Moving toward a unique calling, developing strengths, and walking in the Holy Spirit.

• Insight: Many spiritual models focus only on one. If you only focus on healing, you become "navel-gazers" who never move forward. If you only focus on growth, your past wounds can act as anchors that eventually drag you down. The "unified" approach acknowledges that you must do both simultaneously.

2. The Tripartite View (Spirit, Soul, Body)

The article rests on the theological idea that while the spirit is born again instantly, the soul (mind, will, and emotions) and the body require a process of transformation.

• Thought: This is a helpful distinction for Christians who feel frustrated that they still struggle with the same emotions or habits after being saved. It reinforces that "salvation" is an event, but "sanctification" is a lifelong process of the soul catching up to what has already happened in the spirit.

3. Resistance vs. Forward Power

The author uses the imagery of Hebrews 12:1 ("laying aside every weight... and running the race").

• Weights: These aren't just sins, but "soul hurts" and "wrong beliefs." The article correctly identifies that many Christians are held back not by rebellion, but by a "performance for acceptance" mindset—the lie that God’s love is earned.

• Power: The shift from "fixing problems" to "growing strengths" mirrors the secular trend of Positive Psychology but grounds it in the Holy Spirit. It suggests that our unique talents and spiritual gifts are the "engine" for our growth.

4. Transformation vs. Deliverance

In the comments, the author makes an important distinction:

• Deliverance is about removing external/internal spiritual "strongholds" (like addictions or deep-seated oppression) that prevent growth from starting.

• Transformation is the subsequent process of conforming to the image of Christ.

• Thought: This clarifies that "deliverance" isn't the end goal; it’s simply clearing the path so the actual work of transformation can begin.

Conclusion

The post is quite practical. By using a "Unified Model," it avoids the extremes of legalism (just follow rules) or "quick-fix" emotionalism. It suggests that spiritual maturity is a combination of facing the truth of our past (to find freedom) and embracing the truth of our identity in Christ (to find purpose).

It is a helpful framework for anyone feeling "stuck" in their spiritual life, as it asks two diagnostic questions:

1. What weight am I still carrying from my past? and
2. What unique calling am I failing to run toward?