Transforming Character Through Will and Spiritual Surrender

what matters most about you what you will take into eternity what is infinitely more important than how your body looks or feels is your character and so on this lengthened journey as we go through renovation of the heart dallas willard's book we turn to the chapter on the transformation of the will spirit of heart and character [00:00:25]

our character is that internal overall structure of the self that is revealed by our long-term patterns of behavior and from which our actions more or less automatically arise i want to pause there one of the remarkable aspects of dallas party was so helpful is he's read everything from homer on down about the human condition and worked very hard to try to get clarity on it [00:01:18]

character is internal overall structure of the self just like your body has a structure it's got a skeleton you've got limbs uh the self your inner unseen person has a kind of structure there are certain beliefs that accord to you the mental map about how you think things are certain desires certain values that are central to you [00:02:10]

notice character has to be revealed that's because it's not readily apparent to me i can be very self-deceived about the nature of my character my eyebrows you can look at right now if you want to but my character i can't even see myself it has to be revealed it will require reflection and self-examination [00:02:47]

very often when we read particularly in social sciences uh articles about what makes people the way they are it's all thought to boil down to nature versus nurture your genes or your environment family and so on and of course what's neglected is the great third force that is at work in our formation that is choice [00:03:58]

it's nature and nurture but then we make choices all the time every day and those choices to become part of our character now one huge problem very often historically for the church is what might be called moralism and that's where we don't pay attention to the impact that somebody's genes had or somebody's environment had on who they are [00:04:19]

will is the ability to originate or refrain from originating something an act or a thing it brings things into existence sticks and stones do not have the ability will is the capacity for radical and underrivative that is not derived not caused by some other force origination of events and things therefore it is the core of who and what we are as individuals [00:06:50]

the centrality of will to personhood is what makes it immediately and strongly precious and gives the person dignity one more definition dignity is a worth so great it disallows exchanging a person for anything else the great worth of the person explains why jesus christ would die for the sake of individual human beings and be satisfied with the outcome [00:09:05]

and then over time the choices that we make in our will get solidified get embodied and become our habits and become our character and that matters more than anything else spiritual formation is the formation of character so now today celebrate the fact that you have a will you can say no you can say mine you can also say yes you can also say yours [00:09:52]

this is the great purpose of the will surrender it to god god your will be done god would you guide my fingers while i type this email jesus would you be in my mouth right now while i say this words these words into this camera your will be done [00:11:15]

and then a great and glorious character that internal unseen structure of the self that reveals itself in our mostly automatic patterns of behavior and which determines most of our actions the character can become a glorious and god honoring thing and a benefit to the earth so that when you die and it's time for your funeral people will not talk about your teeth or your tongue or your skin [00:11:36]

but what a fabulous thing it is that god's love was once made manifest in the world through your character i'll see you next time [00:12:03]