Willard | Renovation of Heart

Feeling Feeling inclines us toward or away from things that come before our minds in thought. It involves a tone that is pleasant or painful, along with an attraction or repulsion with respect to the existence or possession ofwhat is thought of. How we feel about food, automobiles, relationships, positions, and hundreds of other things illustrates

On the other hand, what we feel and think is (or can and should be) to a very large degree a matter of choice in competent adult persons, who will be very careful about what they allow their minds to dwell upon or what they allow themselves to feel. This is crucial to the practical methods of spiritual formation.

Will (Spirit, Heart) Volition, or choice, is the exercise of will, the capacity of the person to originate things and events that would not otherwise be or occur. By ?originate? here we mean to include two of the things most prized in human life: ... freedom and creativity. These are really two aspects of the same thing when properly understood, wh

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,

But as to what the human being is, it is simply a whole of a certain kind, consisting of parts with properties and functions that give rise to the properties and functions of whole persons. These, in turn, make possible the relationships persons have to the natural and social worlds and?beyond all these, if they are fully alive as spiritual beings?

Now, when we set aside contemporary prejudices and carefully examine

these two great sources, I believe it will become clear that heart, spirit, and will (or their equivalents) are words that refer to one and the same thing, the same fundamental component of the person.

Note how many aspects of the selfare explicitly involved in this passage: the mind (thought), the will (choice), the feelings, the soul, and the body. A major part of understanding spiritual formation in the Christian traditions is to follow closely the way the biblical writings repeatedly and emphatically focus on the various essential dimensions

By standing in the correct relation to God through our will we can receive grace that will properly reorder the soul along with the other five components of the self. In the life away from God, the order of dominance is

Body Soul

Mind (Thought/Feeling) Spirit God

This is the order in idolatry of all kinds, including that of those who worship ?the good

Now, this embattled state of human nature tells us at least two things: First, it tells us that the issue ofhuman nature is of great importance?

too important for us to leave alone. We must deal with it if we are to have anything useful to say about spiritual formation and about the spiritual life that Jesus brings.