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Willard points out that as Christians, we know that we are new creations in Jesus. So we try to act differently, hoping this will make 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 the divine process that “brings every element in our being, working from inside out, into harmony with the will of God.”
Spiritual formation is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite form or character. It is a process that happens to everyone. The most despicable as well as the most admirable of persons have had a spiritual formation. Terrorists as well as saints are the outcome of spiritual formation. Their spirits or hearts have been formed. Period.
Spiritual formation for the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself. The degree to which spiritual formation in Christ is successful, the outer life of the individual becomes a natural expression or outflow of the character and teachings of Jesus.
This fresh approach to spiritual growth explains the biblical reasons why Christians need to undergo change in several different aspects of life.
Thought
It is who we are in our thoughts, dispositions, and choices—especially in the inner life—that counts. Profound transformation there is the only thing that can definitively conquer outward evil. It is very hard to keep this straight. Failure to do so is a primary cause of failure to grow spiritually. Love, we hear, is patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). Then we mistakenly try to be loving by acting patiently and kindly…and quickly fail.
Feeling
The core of our being is the heart in the human system. That is why we have the biblical teaching that human good and evil are matters of the heart. It is the heart (Mark 7:21) and spirit (John 4:23) that God looks at (1 Samuel 16:7; Isaiah 66:2) in relating to humankind, and in allowing us to relate to him (2 Chronicles 15:4, 15; Jeremiah 29:13; Hebrews 11:6).
Will
Tolstoy once said, “There are two Gods. There is the God that people generally believe in—a God who has to serve them (sometimes in very refined ways, say by merely giving them peace of mind). This God does not exist. But the God whom people forget—the God whom we all have to serve—exists, and is the prime cause of our existence and of all that we perceive.”
John Calvin said that “the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves.” Yet self-obedience seems the only reasonable path for nearly everyone: “So blindly do we all rush in the direction of self-love that everyone thinks he has a good reason for exalting himself and despising all others in comparison.”
Willard points out that wanting God to be God is very different from wanting God to help me.
Body
Few today have discovered that they have been disastrously wrong and that they cannot change or escape the consequences of it on their own. There is little sense of “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). Yet, without this realization of our utter ruin and without the genuine redirecting of our lives, no clear path to inner transformation can be found. It is psychologically and spiritually impossible.
Social Context & Soul
The ideal of the spiritual life in the Christian understanding is one where all of the essential parts of the human self are effectively organized around God, as they are restored and sustained by him. Spiritual formation in Christ is the process leading to that ideal end, and its result is love of God with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and of the neighbor as oneself. The human self is then fully integrated under God.
Christian spiritual formation rests on this indispensable foundation of death to self and cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained.
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. Only then will you really be able to shoot for the stars!