The will is transformed by experience, not information. Dallas Willard More Quotes by Dallas Willard More Quotes From Dallas Willard The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow or require our minds to dwell upon. Dallas Willard selectultimate-freedommind The aim of spiritual formation is not behavior modification but the transformation of all those aspects of you and me where behavior comes from...Circumcision of the heart. Dallas Willard circumcisionspiritualheart A great part of the disaster of contemporary life lies in the fact that it is organized around feelings. People nearly always act on their feelings, and think it only right. The will is then left at the mercy of circumstances that evoke feelings. Christian spiritual formation today must squarely confront this fact and overcome it. Dallas Willard spiritualchristianlying The first act of love is always the giving of attention. Dallas Willard attentionlovegiving The key, then, to loving God is to see Jesus, to hold him before the mind with as much fullness and clarity as possible. It is to adore him. Dallas Willard keysmindjesus To glorify God means to think and act in such a way that the goodness, greatness, and beauty of God are constantly obvious to ourselves and all those around us. Dallas Willard greatnessmeanthinking If we do not make formation in Christ the priority, then we're just going to keep on producing Christians that are indistinguishable in their character from many non-Christians. Dallas Willard prioritieschristiancharacter Theology is a part of our lives. It's unavoidable. A thoughtless theology guides our lives with just as much force as a thoughtful and informed one. Dallas Willard thoughtfulguidesforce The command is "Do no work." Just make space. Attend to what is around you. Learn that you don't have to DO to BE. accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until you stop jerking and squirming. Dallas Willard doing-nothingspacegrace God's address is at the end of your rope. Dallas Willard ropeaddressesends God may not guide us in an obvious way because he wants us to make decisions based on faith and character. Dallas Willard decisionmaycharacter Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it. Dallas Willard voiceneedsthinking As we mature in Christ, it is actually possible to outgrow fear. Dallas Willard maturechrist We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward all his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core - which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word "love". Dallas Willard tiredchristianfather Unless you have already put God first, for example, what you will have to do to be financially secure, impress other people, or fulfill your desires will invariably lead you against God's wishes. That is why the first of the Ten Commandments, “You shall have no gods who take priority over me,” is the first of the Ten Commandments. Dallas Willard prioritieswishpeople God has yet to bless anyone except where they actually are, and if we faithlessly discard situation after situation, moment after moment, as not being "right," we will simply have no place to receive his kingdom into our life. Dallas Willard blessmomentskingdoms As Augustine say clearly, God being God offends human pride. If God is running the universe and has first claim on our lives, guess who isn't running the universe and does not get to have things as they please. Dallas Willard pridedoerunning My central claim is that we become like Christ by doing one thing-by following Him in the overall style of life He chose for Himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that He knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities He engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities He Himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of the Father. Dallas Willard homebelievefather You cannot trust Jesus in areas in which you don't think him competent. Dallas Willard areasjesusthinking Spiritual formation cannot, in the nature of the case, be a 'private' thing, because it is a matter of whole-life transformation. You need to seek out others in your community who are pursuing the renovation of the heart. Dallas Willard communityspiritualheart
