Renovation of the Heart

I just finished Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ.  This book took me a lot longer to read than most books.  It is not that the book is long (it is about 260 pages) but it is thick in content.  I could only read one chapter at a time and then had to reflect upon what I had read.  This book is basically about spiritual formation and it is the most comprehensive book on the subject that I have read. 

One of the helpful aspects of this book is that deals with spiritual growth in every area of human nature.  In this Dallas includes:

1. Thought (images, concepts, judgments, inferences)

2. Feeling (sensation, emotion)

3. Choice (will, decision, character)

4. Body (action, interaction with the physical world)

5. Social context (personal and structural relations to others)

6. Soul (the factor that integrates all of the above to form one life)

Renovation of the Heart is an excellent study of human nature, the effects of sin, the power of grace and the way that a Christian can strive to become more Christ-like in every area of life.  There is a helpful final chapter that reflects on how this can be put into practice in a local congregation.  This is very good book with both theoretical and practical information.  It is profitable for private reflection or group discussion (each chapter ends with questions).  I highly recommend this book.

~ by Stephen Bedard on November 25, 2008.