SUMMARY: Renovation of the Heart

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Book Summary: Renovation of the Heart
by Dallas Willard



Book Summary

Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ

NavPress, ©Copyright 2002

By Dallas Willard

Summary by Staff

The author, Dallas Willard, is a professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and has written over 30 publications.

The book is written for someone who recognizes the dreadful, weak human condition of his/her life and truly wants to renovate his/her life and heart so he/she can become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

It lays out a systematic process for transforming the mind, character, body and soul as we move towards becoming “children of light.” And, it applies these principles not only in people, but also in local church congregations.

This restoration and renovation prepares us for the ultimate presence of God in eternity.


CHAPTER 1 - Introducing Spiritual Formation
We are each born with a spirit that gets altered by the world around us. To become more Christ-like, we must renovate our hearts. Our spirit must be transformed.

Jesus calls to our spirit and says “we cannot live by bread alone.” There is no human solution to renovating the heart. Becoming Christ-like is a gift of grace. Taking God’s love into our hearts becomes a “well of water springing up to eternal life.” This book offers practical ways to help those seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

CHAPTER 2 - The Heart in the System of Human Life
To care for your spirit, you must first understand it. The heart directs life. It is where decisions are made for the whole person. Six aspects of human life are: thought, feeling, choice, body, social context, and soul. The body can become infected with evil, but spiritual formation can transform the body.

The human self must be rooted in others—starting with God. We need to have a right relationship with God and others. The soul interrelates all of the aspects to form one life. The will can reform the soul with God’s help. Our actions arise out of an interplay of all factors. Life under God has this proper order:

1. God
2. Spirit
3. Mind
4. Soul
5. Body

A mind set on flesh is death. Spiritual transformation occurs when each essential dimension is transformed into Christ-likeness by a regimented will and the grace of God. We should get on with the process now, keeping His Word. Evil thrives on confusion. This book lays the foundation for effectual Christian spiritual formation.

CHAPTER 3 - Radical Evil in the Ruined Soul
The soul in most people is in ruin. But, God wants to save each person. We must recognize our brokenness before spiritual transformation can begin.

Many people don’t fear God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. God runs the universe—not us. This is taught to alcoholics in recovery. The human body becomes the primary area of pleasure for those who do not live with God. They deny God’s existence and sins multiply.

When humans think they are God, society will end. A ruined soul is a lost soul. These people are lost because they believe they are in charge. They are obsessed with self. Each is a God unto himself. They may not realize they are lost.

Evil in the human heart should not be ignored. Many intellectuals believe evil is a “non-category.” The ruined soul must first recognize its own ruin. Then, new life in Christ can begin. We should be truly remorseful for our ruined condition or transformation cannot begin.

CHAPTER 4 - Radical Goodness Restored to the Soul
Humans can be restored by abandoning self and devoting their minds to God. Death to “self” is the foundation of Christian spiritual formation. Jesus said we must lose our life to find it. “Carry your own cross and follow me,” Jesus said.

Consider the costs. Discipleship wins. Jesus died for the greater good of God. So, we must sacrifice our old earthly ways and trust God’s agape love. Giving and forgiving are central to the reconstructed life.

Jesus said, “give and it will be given to you ....” Death to self is hard because our habits of thinking, feeling, and willing are poised wrong. Some sensibility to self will remain, but proper discipline and grace will prevent this from taking over. Egotism must die. Radical goodness replaces radical evil in the fallen heart. To say I accept God releases us from having it our way so we don’t return evil with evil and this opens us to restoration of goodness.

CHAPTER 5 - Spiritual Change
Spiritual formation in Christ is the process by which one moves from self-worship to Christ-centered self-denial in God’s present and eternal kingdom. Many church and public leaders have failed. Inner transformation is required.

Belief that we are all “miserable sinners” also blocks spiritual formation. We are running a life race against self. We are never out of danger when we are at home in the body. Another misunderstanding is that man is good apart from God, but no good tree produces bad fruit. Transformation is a gift of grace. To make this transformation work, you need a vision of its benefits and the intention to get it done.

CHAPTER 6 - Transforming the Mind
The first step back from ruin is to turn our thoughts towards God. In our “thought landscape” we make decisions that determine what we will do and become. Ideas and images are two extremely powerful factors.

A person’s culture is based on what we think “naturally.” Spiritual transformation must turn us away from the evil, idea-system of today. To change governing ideas is difficult, and even painful. Images go with ideas but are specific.

Jesus chose the cross to convey His message. It is history’s most powerful image. But, Satan uses ideas and images as temptations to turn people away from God. Images of popularity, success, and power appeal to people who have low self-esteem. We must replace our destructive ideas and images with those in Jesus mind.

To do this we need more information, plus our ability to think. The first task of Jesus' ministry was to inform people about eternal life through Him. Inadequate information leads to “garbage in, garbage out.” To transform spiritually, we must seek out and dwell upon the word of God. God’s grace will help us.

God’s cause on earth will prosper if His people think right. Crooked thinking leads to evil. We need to dwell intelligently and steadily on God. This evolves into worship of Him. As we stand before Him, He will transform our life. Our thoughts will move to the goodness of God in life. Nothing is above His power to do good.

By standing before God, our lives will be transformed. We should engage ourselves with ideas, images, and information from the Bible. Potential dangers in our thought-life with God are: pride, ignorance, allowing our desires to come first and what images we allow to come into our minds.

We should dwell on true, honorable, right, just and lovely things as Paul wrote (Phil 4:8). Apply the VIM structure – vision, intention, means. This chapter dealt with Vision. You must work the Intention with God’s help. The Means will come from memorizing key Bible verses. Input of other good images help.

We also need to walk with and learn from others who have become Christ-like, both past and present. There are bogus books, religions and techniques for self-help. These lack understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Only He can deliver us from ourselves and the powers of darkness.

CHAPTER 7 - Transforming the Mind
Feelings, too, must be changed and restored to God. We must let God be God in dealing with feelings. He helps us avoid temptation. To reach our vision of who we could be, we should become an apprentice of Jesus.

Feelings move us for either good or bad. Good, healthy feelings are essential to a good life. The book of Proverbs lists many feelings that are harmful and helpful. But, we cannot let feelings rule us. We must replace destructive ones. We must simply walk away from destructive feelings. Bad feelings can envelop a whole society. Hatred imprisons minds. We need to listen with reason.

Some people in quiet desperation need a rush of feelings and get hooked on things or actions. “Modernity” has pulverized human solidarity in society. Modern society depends on feelings to make decisions. Self-control is lacking.

A disciplined will under God can overcome sinful feelings. Good images can change bad moods. The feelings that dominate a spiritually transformed mind are: love, joy and peace. Faith and hope are involved. Jesus brought hope to the world. Hope is anticipation of good not seen. Faith is based on trust that God delivers His promises.

We progress from faith to hope, and exult in the glory of God. We take on a godly character and hope that covers our entire life. Faith in Christ inspires hope and the grace of God leads us to a life of love. Love is “will to good.” Lust is purely desire. Lust and pride result in fear. We are loved by God who is love; in turn we love Him and others who in turn love us through Him.

Joy is a pervasive sense that comes in the presence of love. It is produced by the Holy Spirit and fills us. Peace results when you are assured things will turn out well. Peace with God comes by accepting Jesus. He is in control. Nothing can happen to us that will not turn out good.

Peace, love, joy, faith, and hope cannot be separated. They crowd out destructive feelings. We should act by being honest about our feelings, then agree to abandon that which can be destructive. Satan tries to make feelings most important, but spiritual formation in Christ can prevent this and lead to a joyous life and eternity with God.

CHAPTER 8 - Transforming the Will and Character
The condition of our mind is based on the direction our will is set. The will (heart) can change thoughts and feelings in future choices. So, we are responsible for our character.

But, this too can be changed in becoming more like Christ. A transformed heart does what Go wants from us – service to Him and others, and joyous devotion to Him. Will is the core of who we are. It is our spirit through Him. It is meant to be in His keeping through our trust in Him.

God intended for us to have a freely chosen character. Centrality of will and personhood gives a person dignity and makes the person highly-valued. God let’s us make choices. He doesn’t force His will on us.

Many become slaves to their own will, not God’s. The character of a will apart from God is duplicity, deceitfulness, and darkness. God is sensitive to the slightest move of the heart toward Him. He is looking for people who worship Him in spirit and truth. A simple, heartfelt prayer reaches Him. No sophistication required.

As we progress toward being Christ-like, we surrender our will to God’s. Irredeemable harm does not befall us. God is with us—no matter what. We become contented. Then, we want to participate, act. To do this we must overcome our fallen character. We must single-mindedly focus on God.

And not become entangled in untoward desires, our usual inertia. Our primary aim should be to overcome duplicity and malice. We should not mislead or harm people. Learn what God wills for us in the Bible. Spiritual disciplines: solitude, fasting, worship and service let us deal with malice and duplicity. Let God’s sweet will rule and give us an idea of the eternal kingdom.

CHAPTER 9 - Transforming the Body
Our body is part of our spiritual life. It must be our ally, not an impediment. Perversion of the body alienates a person from God. The body lets us liberate energy to work for God. It is our dominion and responsibility.

Negative influences will attack the body. Christ was reincarnated as flesh, body; so our body is also in Christ. We must not succumb to our earthly parts. Because we have God’s grace, sin does not control us. God gives life to our mental body through His Holy Spirit that dwells in us.

Spiritual transformation requires transformation of the body. There is a transitional period because the flesh is weak. We must NOT let our body parts control our actions. The tongue can be devastating. Body and self-orientation is everywhere, but the mind of the flesh passes away while God abides forever.

We don’t own our bodies; God does. Soul disruption causes body disorders, even death. To gain spiritual formation of your body you must:

1. Release your body to God, each and every part.

2. No longer idolize the body.

3. Don’t misuse your body.

4. Honor and care for your body.

We rest our bodies on the Sabbath. We need sleep. Body transformation comes from spiritual transformation.

CHAPTER 10 - Transforming Our Social Dimensions
Our spiritual transformation also affects our relationship with others. We must not assault others or withdraw from them. We must love others as Jesus loved us. This restructures the world for good.

To live, give to others. God is love and He sustains that love for us. To resolve our spiritual formation with social relations we must understand what is wrong with our relationships. The social area of our life is meant to be a play of constant mutual blessings. Instead, we are cold.

Many people don’t know how to be married. Individual demands take over and rule. We are always looking for a better deal. Spiritual malformation in children is the result. Children suffer when parents engage in assault and withdrawal from each other. To heal this, we must be sure marriage relationships include God.

The main elements of spiritual formation are:

1. To be a whole person as God sees us.

2. To abandon defensiveness.

3. To be genuine; avoid pretense.

4. To invite the spirit of God into our social connections.


CHAPTER 11 - Transforming the Soul
Your soul runs your life. When the soul is properly ordered under God, we can face all events of life. Wounded, twisted souls can recover under God’ grace and be restored.

Soul-less life is meaningless, dead, boring. When life’s meaning is absent, we concentrate on performance, even fanaticism. However, the soul will always reassert itself as reality.

Author’s image of the soul is an inner stream of living water flowing from God. This is essential and lies at our deepest level of life and power. Bible refers to God’s soul. It is full of soul references. In spiritual transformation we must regularly check our souls to be sure it is rooted in God. We should be meek and humble knowing that God is in control of all outcomes. Sin and wickedness separate our souls from God. The grace of God’s love restores the soul.

To have a personal relationship with God we must take his laws into our heart. Some want to annul laws. This stops spiritual transformation. A redeemed life lives under the grace of God’s moral law. The most powerful force for a transformed soul “comes from above.”

CHAPTER 12 - The Children of Light and The Light of the World
“Children of the light” move towards eternity in God’s plan. Children of light have been changed inside.

In their thought life: they keep God in the center of their mind.

In their feelings: they love God and people.

In their heart: they do what is good and right.

Their body is poised to do right without thinking.

In their social relations: they are open and non-judgmental.

In their soul: Christ-likeness flows.

Each dimension of the self must be transformed. We can escape the world’s corruption by putting on our best efforts understanding, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. Sanctification is the Christianizing of Christians.

Mature children of light serve God with heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus came as the light of the world and sent His followers to create a worldwide moral revolution. Modern history showed many political leaders felt superior to Christ and committed major atrocities.

Media tries to replace Jesus with John Lennon, Lenin, Mao or Nietzche. The children of light must now show the way out of this dark world. We must lead and teach others about Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 13 - Formation in the Local Congregation
Renovation of the heart should take place in local churches. Members are in a spiritual hospital in various stages of recovery. Spiritual formation in Christ-likeness should be the primary goal of each local church.

Emphases should be put on principles and absolutes of the New Testament, not on trivia and distractions. Too much time is wasted on the “vessel,” i.e., church rules and regulations and not enough on the “treasure” of being like Christ.

Many conservative churches get people ready to die and go to heaven, rather than putting heaven into people. Jesus said “As you go throughout the world, make apprentices to me from all kinds of people, immerse them in Trinitarian reality and teach them to do everything I have commanded you.”

God’s plan for spiritual formation in local congregations has 3 stages:

1. Make disciples of Jesus.

2. Immerse all apprentices in the Trinitarian presence.

3. Transform disciples so that doing the words and deeds of Christ is the natural outcome.

To be a disciple we must give up our life. This can be a big problem for many. Use people who are disciples as leaders. In stage 2, regarding Trinitarian presence, you will feel the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. Stage 3 in God’s plan for growth of local congregations is based on spiritual transformation of disciples.

People choose to believe. We must try to get people to understand the truth. God will do the rest. Regularly attending church service is not enough. Spiritual reformation is deep and may start with a few.

A congregation will be stabilized and drawn onward if it does two things:

1. Openly expect the apprentices to learn and do the things Jesus taught us.

2. Announce that you teach people to do the things Jesus said to do.

Ordinary people can become apprentices. Putting on the character of Jesus in this life prepares us for a glorious entry into the full presence of God.