Galatians 4:15-20: in context

Paul writes to the Galatians, who are drifting from the gospel he preached, with the anguish of a spiritual parent. He recalls their former love for him, grieves that telling them the truth has seemingly made him their enemy, and then names the depth of his concern for them with a striking image: my little children, he writes, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. His labor and travail for them had one aim: that Christ himself would be formed within them.

The phrase until Christ is formed in you names the deep goal of Paul's labor, and of God's work in every believer. Paul's concern for the Galatians was not merely that they hold right beliefs or behave rightly, though these mattered; his travail was for something deeper: that Christ himself would be formed in them, shaped within them, so that they became like him from the inside. This is the aim of the whole Christian life: not merely external conformity or correct doctrine, but the forming of Christ within us, our transformation into his likeness. This gives us the true measure of spiritual growth. We can measure growth by knowledge gained, behavior improved, religious activity increased. And these have their place. But the deeper aim is the forming of Christ in us, that we be shaped into his likeness, that his character, his love, his humility, his heart, take form within us. God's purpose for those he saves, Paul says, is that they be conformed to the image of his Son. The goal is not merely that we do the right things but that Christ be formed in us, that we become like him. This reframes how we understand what God is doing in us, and what we are to seek. God is at work forming Christ in us, shaping us into his likeness, and this is a deep and gradual work, sometimes painful, as Paul's travail suggests, but it is the purpose of all his working in us. Beholding the glory of the Lord, Paul says, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. The forming of Christ in us is the aim, and it is God's own work, though it engages our cooperation. And it means that the measure of our growth is not chiefly our knowledge or activity but the degree to which Christ is being formed in us, his likeness taking shape in our character and lives. This calls us to seek and to value the forming of Christ in us above lesser measures of growth. Paul labored in travail until Christ was formed in the Galatians; and God is at work forming Christ in us, shaping us into his likeness. This is the deep goal, deeper than knowledge or behavior, that Christ himself be formed within us. And we are called to seek this, to cooperate with God's forming work, and to measure our growth not merely by what we know or do but by whether Christ is being formed in us, his character and heart taking shape within, until we are conformed to his likeness, which is the purpose of all God's working in his people.

Do I measure my spiritual growth mainly by knowledge gained or behavior improved, missing the deeper aim, and can Paul's travail for the Galatians until Christ is formed in them, together with God's purpose to conform us to the image of his Son, move me to seek and value the forming of Christ in me above lesser measures, cooperating with God's work of shaping me into Christ's likeness, so that his character and heart take form within me?