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“Time Doesn't Equal Transformation” cuts through one of the most pervasive myths in our spiritual journeys — that simply getting older means we're growing more spiritually mature. Sorry, but nope!

Time doesn’t automatically grow your soul, but grace-filled participation does. In this punchy episode of Today’s Kus Word, we’re busting the myth that spiritual maturity just happens with the passing of time. Spoiler: you could have 85 trips around the sun and still be a spiritual toddler if you're not intentionally leaning into growth. Gray hair doesn't equal wisdom — and another Bible study doesn’t guarantee transformation.

In this episode, Michele walks you through why time is only a container for growth — and how purposeful, present participation with the Holy Spirit is what actually matures you. We’ll get honest about where we’ve been passive and reflect on a few questions to engage your spiritual formation this week. Ready for a reset? Dive in, get inspired, and shoot Michele a text (link’s in the show notes!) to let her know how these micro-episodes are hitting your heart!

Today’s Reflection Questions:

• • In what areas of my life have I assumed that time would do the work for me?
  • Where in my life have I been passively waiting for growth to just happen?
  • What’s one simple way that I can participate with the Holy Spirit this week in my own spiritual growth?

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Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Text Michele

Ever felt stuck spiritually even after years of church sermons, Bible study, and worship? You're not alone. In today’s micro-episode, we tackle a sneaky truth: proximity to the truth doesn’t mean formation by the truth. We’re trying out a new micro-learning format — short, powerful reviews and reflections to help the teachings sink deeper, reframe your thinking, and spark real transformation, not just information overload!

Truth doesn’t change us by osmosis; it requires our cooperation, our slowing down, and our surrender. Today, Michele walks you through a couple of reflective questions to spot where you might be “near” the truth but not yet formed by it, and then ends with a prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to shape you from the inside out. Join us for this short, reflective episode to help launch your week with clarity and fresh fire.

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Text Michele

“Time doesn’t equal transformation.” Just because you’ve been near the truth, even for years, doesn’t mean it’s been formed in you. In this kickoff episode of her Rule of Life series, Michele Kus exposes the myth that more time passing and more Bible studies and more sermons and more books automatically lead to spiritual growth. With wisdom drawn from her seminary course (a work in progress!), Michele explores why so many of us feel stuck — despite being steeped in endless Christian content — and how we can finally break through and make real progress in our spiritual journeys. It’s simpler than you might think!

If you’ve been consuming without actually being changed, this episode is your wake-up call. Michele walks you through how to reflect on the actual rhythms that are shaping your soul right now — on purpose or by accident — and invites you to create sacred space for real, grace-based growth. Plus, she shares a simple 10-minute practice you can try this week to start shifting from information consumption to intentional transformation. Don’t miss it!

Interested in our private mentorship group? Connect with Michele here to stay in the loop!

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Text Michele

Good Friday invites us to pause and reconsider the dominant narratives we’ve inherited about the cross. Did Jesus die as the object of God’s wrath — or as the Victorious One who forever conquered sin and death?

This episode reexamines the popular Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) theory, which frames salvation as a legal transaction where Jesus absorbs our punishment and pays the penalty for our sin. In contrast, the much older Christus Victor view tells a very different story — the story of a heavenly rescue mission where the Trinity conspires together to heal our soul sickness and set us free from sin and death.

Here’s what we unpack:

• Penal substitution didn’t emerge until the 1500s with John Calvin’s legal framework
• The early church saw sin as a sickness of the soul to be healed, rather than a crime to be punished
• Jesus wasn’t punished by God; he willingly entered our suffering in order to overcome it
• His cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” was a quote from Psalm 22 and not a cry of abandonment
• The Trinity was never broken apart, but God was always in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself
• Jesus didn’t “pay for” our sins; he forgave them
• Jesus didn’t die to change God’s mind about us, but to change our minds about God
• The cross reveals love, not wrath — a rescue, not a retribution

Buckle up because this episode is PACKED and might challenge some long-held beliefs and assumptions!

If this episode brought clarity or challenged something that never quite sat right in your spirit, share it with someone who might need that same freedom. And I’d love to hear your biggest takeaway! Just text me using the link in the show notes.

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Follow our meditation podcast on Apple: New Creation Meditations

Follow our meditation podcast on Spotify: New Creation Meditations

Text Michele

Ever feel like you're wearing a mask, exhausted from performing, pleasing, or playing small? That’s your false self talking—and this episode is about gently unmasking it without guilt. The false self isn’t evil; it’s who you had to become to survive. But what helped you then is draining you now—especially in your walk with God. Join your host, Michele Kus, as we explore how true spiritual maturity isn’t about becoming a shinier version of yourself, but about unbecoming everything you’re not. Through story, scriptures, and a guided meditation, we’ll thank those old protective patterns and then let them go. Because the real you—the one God already loves and adores—isn’t lost. The real you is hidden with Christ, waiting to be revealed.

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Follow our meditation podcast on Apple: New Creation Meditations

Follow our meditation podcast on Spotify: New Creation Meditations

Text Michele

Ever learned something life-changing, only to forget it days later? Transformation doesn’t happen at the speed of information — it takes immersion. Marinating in that truth! In this powerful meditation episode, we move beyond intellectual knowing into deep, personal encounter. Step into a guided experience where a supernatural mirror reveals your true divine identity — radiant, wise, and overflowing with life. This is your invitation to embody the truth that Christ lives in you. So throw on your headphones, close your eyes, and sink deep into this encounter, designed to help you rewire not just what you think, but who you become.

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Text Michele

You have divinity in your DNA, and that’s no April Fool’s joke! Yet most Christians live unaware of this mind-blowing reality. Today, we dive into a moment when Paul walked into a church and was shocked to find... mere humans. He rebuked the Corinthians, not for being bad, but for being merely human when they carried God’s divine nature. The gospel isn’t a behavior management program; it’s a radical exchange, the old for the new. It’s a co-crucifixion and a co-resurrection. Sin isn’t about bad behavior but about mistaken identity. You’re not a sinner. You’re a saint infused with God’s divine nature. Walking in this truth isn’t prideful—it glorifies the One who gave you his very own spirit. So today, you can boldly declare: I have divinity in my DNA!

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!

Text Michele

Ever wish you could wake up free from your past mistakes, shame, and guilt? The good news is—you can! In Christ, you’re not just a slightly improved version of yourself—you’re an entirely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). In this first episode of a special series on identity, Michele unpacks the revolutionary truth of your new creation identity, diving into the Greek word kainos to reveal why this transformation is more than a mere spiritual makeover. This week, we’ll explore personality types, spiritual gifts, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence—all through the lens of who you truly are in Christ. So, if you’re tired of striving for some distant sense of worthiness, let Romans 6:11 remind you: your old self is dead and buried. Spiritual growth isn’t about earning a new identity—it’s about aligning with the one that’s already yours. That’s real freedom!

Check out Dr. Lila Cook's new book here!

Support the show

Spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Today’s Kus Word is your weekly dose of spiritual wisdom, teaching, coaching, and encouragement. Join author, musician, and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, who serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and freedom-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. Episodes drop every Friday morning! #TodaysKusWord

*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!

Connect with Michele here!

Find us online at TodaysKusWord.com

Follow Today’s Kus Word on your favorite podcast platform here!