As I am trying to feed my Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, I have been blessed by the words of Dallas Willard. I want to share some excerpts from the Great Omission...I'll preface this by saying that I have been in conflict. My mind, body, soul and spirit are at odds. I want to obey the life and teachings of Christ, but right now have been stuck. These words are helping (besides the Scriptures themselves)...
"The will to obey is the engine that pulls the train of spirituality in Christ. But spirituality in many Christian circles has simply become another dimension of Christian consumerism. We have generated a body of people who consume Christian services and think that that is Christian faith. Consumption of Christian services replaces obedience to Christ. And spirituality is one more thing to consume... But we must talk about spirituality, and this naturally leads us to talk also about spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are activities in our power that we engage in to enable us to do waht we cannot do by direct effort..." (He has a whole book on this, pick it up)
Spiritual Formation...
"'Spiritual formation' refers to the process of shaping our spirit and giving it a definite character. It means the formation of our spirit in conformity with the Spirit of Christ. Of course it involves the Holy Spirit in action. But the focus of spiritual formation is the formation of our spirit. (He equates spirit, will, and heart as in the human being.) "
"'Spiritual formation in Christ is the process whereby the inmost being of the individual (the heart, will or spirit) takes on the quality or character of Jesus himself.'
That is it. It's the process whereby the inmost being of myself takes on the quality and/or character of Jesus! Whoa.
I'm wrestling. I'm fighting. But I am in process...
