Spiritual Formation Insights from Dallas Willard

This article is the fifth in a series looking at the top insights from the life and work of Dallas Willard. In this article, we look at the fourth insight – What are spiritual disciplines for?

• The first article was an introduction (Dallas Willard – Spiritual Formation Insights That Will Propel Your Growth).
• The second was about the four great questions of life (What did Dallas Willard Believe About Reality and the Good Life).
• The third article was about identity and death (Dallas Willard: Insight #2 – What is a human being?).
• The fourth article was about the genius of Jesus (Dallas Willard: Insight #3 – Jesus Is the Greatest Genius).

We will continue to explore additional insights in future articles.

Insight #4 What are Spiritual Disciplines For?

Let’s start with first defining what activities of mind and body Dallas Willard is referring to. He divided the disciplines into two categories. Disciplines of abstinence are things we intentionally avoid doing. Disciplines of engagement are things we intentionally do. The disciplines of abstinence make way for the disciplines of engagement. For example, solitude makes room for prayer and study. Here is the full list.

Solitude was one of the most important disciplines to Dallas Willard. This has only become more important with ubiquitous use of cell phones and social media. It is hard to find solitude even when we are alone. It can be easy to go through life (work and play) and never have time to be alone with our thoughts and spend serious time reflecting. The good news is that this is something we can get better at with practice.

We are not going to unpack all of these disciplines here. If you would like to learn more about them, we recommend reading The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard (https://amzn.to/41SGzO8) and Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (https://amzn.to/3SjkjtN).

How Do Spiritual Disciplines Work?

Dallas Willard’s definition focuses on alignment between our being and the divine order. For example, we are angry and proud, but we should be loving and humble. How can we become more loving? How can we become humbler? The answer is not by trying harder or by focusing directly on the desired outcome. You will not make much progress on being more loving by trying to be more loving. Change happens through the principle of indirection.

To be more loving, we need to become the type of person who is more loving. The type of person we are can be changed through the spiritual disciplines. The process of spiritual formation is one of character development. We are becoming more and more aligned with the divine order through cooperation.

What happens when we become more aligned with the divine order? We are no longer dependent on our own willpower, but on God’s power. There is a mysterious cooperation that occurs. The more we practice the spiritual disciplines, the more we are formed by the Holy Spirit and the more we find that we are living beyond our own ability. We will dig more into this relationship between earning and effort in insight number seven.

What Spiritual Disciplines Are Not

It is also important to note that spiritual disciplines are not just a technique for self-improvement. We can’t change by just putting in more effort directly, but effort is still required to practice spiritual disciplines. But it is also more than effort. If it were just about our effort, that puts spiritual disciplines still within the realm of things that we can control. We must avoid becoming legalistic and only doing these disciplines as a means to an end. The end is Jesus, but we will often find him in the midst of these practice, not something we earn at the end.

Conclusion

Dallas Willard provides a compelling vison for how we should approach the spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines help us create a posture where the Spirit can work in us and through us. We can become the type of person who does what is right easily and naturally because we are aligned with God’s divine order. We find a power that is beyond our own.

Let us know what you think about Willard’s definition of spiritual disciplines in the comments section below. Where do you agree or disagree? What disciplines are easiest and hardest for you?

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Resources

• Divine Conspiracy (https://amzn.to/41Eo9Aw)
• Renovation of the Heart (https://amzn.to/3H1GGgN)
• Hearing God (https://amzn.to/47nptcm)
• Life Without Lack (https://amzn.to/3tCM7jc)
• The Spirit of the Disciplines (https://amzn.to/41SGzO8)
• Becoming Dallas Willard by Gary Moon (https://amzn.to/3NN9n4
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (https://amzn.to/3SjkjtN)

Also take a look at our Resources page for what has influenced our thinking.

Take a look at our other Blog posts for articles engaging culture with faith and reason.

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