12. Renovation of the Heart by Willard

I read this two times in one year. Last time, I listened to it on audiobook, this time I underlined and took extensive notes since it is an assigned text for a class. It is even better the second time around. Spiritual transformation really is possible. 

Here is the gist quote:

“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 outer life of the individual becomes a natural expression or outflow of the character and teachings of Jesus.” (22)

My only thing about Willard is that he doesn't realize that this has been going on within pockets of followers of Jesus for a while now. I was taught all these principles in the Navigators when I was in college. He has definitely brought it to the forefront and articulated it beautifully. I prefer to think of it as discipleship rather than calling it spiritual formation, but that is just my preference, and spiritual formation is the popular way to term it these days.