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Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ
Overview
As Christians, we know that we are new creations in Jesus, so we try to act differently, hoping this will makes us more like him. But changing our outward behavior doesn’t change our hearts. Only by God’s grace can we be transformed internally.
Renovation of the Heart lays a biblical foundation for understanding what best-selling author Dallas Willard calls the “transformation of the spirit”—a divine process that “brings every element in our being, working from the inside out, into harmony with the will of God.” This fresh approach to spiritual growth explains the biblical reasons by Christians need to undergo change in six aspects of life: thought, feeling, will, body, social context, and soul. Willard also outlines a general pattern of transformation in each area, not as a sterile formula but rather as a practical process that can be followed without the guilt or perfectionism so many Christians wrestle with.
Don’t settle for complacency. Accept the challenge Renovation of the Heart offers to become an intentional apprentice of Jesus Christ, changing daily as you walk with him.
The Logos Bible Software edition of this volume is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of spiritual disciplines. Scripture passages link directly to your English translations and to the original language texts, and important concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about faith, meditation, and Christlikeness.
- Explores the idea of spiritual formation and transformation
- Discusses changes to the soul and mind through spiritual formation
- Includes questions for thought and discussion following each chapter
- Introducing Spiritual Formation: The “Beyond Within” and The Way of Jesus
- The Heart in the System of Human Life
- Radical Evil in the Ruined Soul
- Radical Goodness Restored to the Soul
- Spiritual Change: The Reliable Pattern
- Transforming the Mind, 1: Spiritual Formation and the Thought Life
- Transforming the Mind, 2: Spiritual Formation and Our Feelings
- Transforming the Will (Heart or Spirit) and Character
- Transforming the Body
- Transforming Our Social Dimension
- Transforming the Soul
- The Children of Light and the Light of the World
- Spiritual Formation in the Local Congregation
No one has thought more carefully than Dallas Willard about the human personality and how it can be transformed into Christlikeness. I give my highest recommendation to Renovation of the Heart.
—Richard J. Foster, professor, Friends University
This book is Dallas at his practical best. While explaining how the dimensions of the self work and can be transformed, he is all the while wooing us into life in the kingdom of God.
—Jan Johnson, author and speaker
Renovation of the Heart is an insightful, biblical exploration of the person. I found the distinctions—and the connections—Dallas Willard makes between the body, soul, heart, mind, and emotions to be especially enlightening. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to show the reader how to overcome the conflict that wars between these members. This is a message of hope for true, inner reformation.
—Jim Petersen, missionary, The Navigators
Everyone is being spiritually formed. In this book, Willard says two things to me: good spiritual formation depends on the Holy Spirit, and the process is intentional. We can walk a path to resembling Christ in our interior world. The revolution is beginning. Willard’s latest work will keep it moving.
—Larry Crabb, founder, New Way Ministries
- Title: Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ
- Author: Dallas Willard
- Publisher: NavPress
- Publication Date: 2002
- Pages: 268
Dallas Willard is a professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at The University of Southern California. He is the best-selling author of more than 30 publications, including The Divine Conspiracy, The Spirit of the Disciplines, and Hearing God.