It is beyond coincidence that this is the last blog post on my series “Inside Out,” which recaps the teachings of Dallas Willard.

Dallas died this morning and is now fully healed and at rest with the Lord. Prayers of love and support go out to his wife, Jane, son, John, daughter, Becky, her husband, Bill, and their daughter,Larissa.

A great warrior is receiving a hero’s welcome in the heavenly dimensions!

Here then is the end of my series.

We have spent much time examining a vision of what it can mean to live a transformed life. As we have the intention to make our renovation a reality, we have been given the means to follow through.

Dallas Willard connects us to God’s path of transformation as recorded in the Bible. Neither he nor God himself can force us to take that path, but we will not see transformation without it.

If you have been following the progress of change of the five parts of who you are as you have been practicing what you are reading, you are well on your way.

If you haven’t begun yet, you are invited to return to the beginning and actually try living this out. God’s desire for you since before the beginning of time is that you would come to him in complete transparency and say, “Yes,” to him and his ways.

I leave you with these words from a song:

Just like King David I cry out to You
Create in me a clean heart

I’ve grieved You again I need Your release

From patterns that keep me in sin

But there’s only one way I can finally break free

Change me on the inside…

“Change Me On The Inside” CCLI Song No. 2956367
© 2000 Vineyard Songs Canada (Admin. by Music Services)
Brian Doerksen

One of Dallas’ key teachings is we are not in charge of outcomes. We partner with Jesus, arranging and rearranging our lives to learn from him, and we work with him any way possible. But, when it comes to outcomes, these are solely in Jesus‘ hands

This is such a freeing way to look at life, like the biblical parables of farming. We plant and wait.

No manipulation.

No, “Come on seed, get growing!”

We simply follow the faithful work Jesus is working through us and we watch and wait.

This takes a large dose of humility.

1 Peter 5:5-7 (NLT)

You younger men, accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for

“God sets himself against the proud,

but he shows favor to the humble.”

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

Dallas likes to comment on why so many pastors dread hospital visits. The reason? They pray with patients, but rarely do they see “healing.” At least healing the way they think healing should happen. So, they become discouraged. Dallas reminds us all, “We are not in charge of the outcomes.”

Pray for someone’s healing in a way that expects the healing to already be happening.

God is not doing great things in the world to make it possible for us to receive accolades. It’s not as if God starts his day saying,

“This morning I am going to make sure that everyone knows how wonderful Dana is. I want all eyes on him. Let’s see, what can I do to make him look better?”

It is enough to know God has me in mind, at all. Yet, it is more than that. I know he does think I am precious, regardless of what others think. I know I am the “apple of his eye.” His confidence in me makes me want to give my life to him. Sinful as I am, it is in bits and pieces, but I am moving in his direction, yoked to Jesus.

How about it?

The essence of the transformed life is where God’s Word is taken into your very soul and becomes a way of life. Are you ready?

It is not as if the Bible is simply one of many sources for all that is necessary to lead a healthy and complete existence, fully immersed in the reality of God’s Kingdom. The Bible is the only source. It always fascinates me when even the most conscientious people seek other paths rather than Jesus and his Word. They don’t even give him a try.

Actually, there are many teachings in modern times that come directly from the Bible that are quite helpful, but people don’t always know the source. When you see some teaching out there that proves very helpful, you don’t have to dig too far to discover it comes out of biblical principles.

For example, the recovery movements, like AA, are based on biblical principles. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey? Biblical principles. Business books by Ken Blanchard and John Maxwell? Bible. Yes, even Dr. Phil.

I am not saying that all of these, and other resources, are 100% pure Bible, I am just saying that they have actually proven helpful in the long term. People make progress because biblical principles are being lived out. They don’t even have to know this!

Here’s a test. Intentionally and honestly follow just one teaching of Jesus for an extended period of time, let’s say, six weeks, then he will draw you to all that is necessary for you to come to confident faith in him. You will begin to learn from him to have faith in him . Start anywhere. One teaching.

Have you actually tried to live one teaching of Jesus? Have you actually incorporated this into your life? Until a conscious, obedient effort is made to let Jesus guide you in a specific arena of your life, it doesn’t make sense to say, “I can’t,” or “It won’t work for me.”

Spend some time reading Psalm 119. Soak in the rhythm of respect given to God’s ways.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”

A yoke is a wooden harness that is used in agriculture to put two oxen together so they can work together pulling a load or plowing a field. The system works best when you take an experienced older ox and yoke him to an inexperienced younger one. The younger ox learns to follow the lead of the older, and the older teaches to share the load. After a while, the oxen work together as one.

Jesus invites me to yoke to him. In this way he can teach me to live my life as he would live it if he were me, and he actually guides me as I am yoked to his lead. I am no longer working on my strength, but his; not my direction, but his. In this way I am able to succeed in the way he desires for me in every area of transformation.

Who would actually make a yoke? A carpenter? Interesting…

Ultimately, it is the renovation of the soul that God desires to accomplish in you. If I am to make any headway in transformation, and the soul is at the center of who I am, my operating system, then it is critical to think deeply about my soul.

The key starting point is to realize I am not contained in my body. I am not only a physical being. I am a spiritual being who has a body.

You see, it is tempting to think that scientific understanding is the sign of greatest intelligence. If this is not the case, if the spiritual world is actually the real world, then we will miss out on the most important aspect of reality. True intelligence is not measured by lab instruments. True intelligence starts with realizing the physical is not all there is.

And just like the physical body, the soul needs proper care. The soul lasts forever. It is not a ghost that leaves our body and floats around after we die. The soul is a non-physical entity that isn’t limited to our body’s boundaries.

Caring for the soul centers on spiritual disciplines which bring refreshment to our existence. Our souls are grievously damaged over the years. Abuse, betrayal, abandonment, and other destructive forces in our lives chip away at our identity. We need God to “renew” us. We need God to make us new. We need to give ourselves over to God’s care.

Think about these words from Psalm 23. “He restoreth my soul.” (KJV)

If I choose to live by my own desires, my life is headed for ruin. Unfortunately, as a human being, this is the natural path I will take. If I am young and single, Especially if i am young and single, I won’t even think of another way.

But, when other life circumstances kick in, things change. If I am married, I begin to see that my way isn’t always the way it is. If we have children, this is even more evident. When I learn that I am not in charge of my life, it is a good start.

It isn’t a shock that research shows that “married with children” brings about greater physical and emotional health than any other social arrangement. Without living a deliberate path of self-denial and moving-toward-God transformation, from a human standpoint, this is the best chance we get. Yet, marriage and parenthood are not enough.

To live intentionally, focusing on renovation of all the parts of who I am, is the means to long-term health, and through Jesus, the means to eternal significance. We don’t have to wait to get married and have kids to begin this process. It can start any day at any time in our lives. The soul is at the center of the whole endeavor.

We join Jesus in transforming our hearts, minds, bodies, and social relations. The soul integrates all of these and makes our life, “our life.” For the first time, we can actually live life the way we are designed. It may be a stretch, but compare the soul to Michael Jordan.

The Bulls had Michael Jordan for a couple of years before they started winning championships. They didn’t become the world famous Chicago Bulls until Michael learned to involve the other four players and integrate them fully in the game. When all five were working together toward the common purpose of winning a “ring”, things clicked. Many times! Michael functioned like our soul, making sure everyone was involved and contributing in a healthy way. Yes, even Luc Longley!

Think about the similarity of soul work and team work.

God is in charge. He is the source of transformation and he doesn’t hide this from us. The Bible is the way God gives us the plan to renovate our souls. This begins and ends with the fact that we don’t trust in our own wisdom; we trust in God’s.

Either the Bible is the Word of God for us or it isn’t. If it isn’t, then we are left with two choices to guide the transformation of our lives.

1. Our own understanding- We are the source of what will transform our lives.

2. Understanding not based on God’s Word- Learning based on what someone else thinks who doesn’t use a biblical worldview.

Here are the challenges of either of these viewpoints.

1. If I am the source of transformation in my life, then I know there is great risk, because I have been wrong before and I can’t imagine that I am not going to be wrong again.

2. No matter how brilliant the thinking may be, if it is not filtered through the Scripture, it can’t always be trusted. It may be an identical principle, as Jesus is the source of all truth. We can expect to find good, solid teaching in other religions and worldviews. Yet, how do we know if the teaching veers away from God’s Word if we don’t know the Bible?

Yes, God gives people a conscience to guide themselves whether they know the Bible or not. Yet, we can ignore our consciences so easily. Human history is filled with the disasters of people doing what they know is wrong, and at best convincing themselves that it is not wrong after all, and at worst, relishing the evil behavior. For those who trust God’s Word, neither is an option.

The transformation of the soul occurs through those who love the Word, read it in a careful, straightforward manner, and live it day to day. This is not usually a huge leap in life change, but rather a slow, quiet exposure to the Word of Life.

Read Ephesians, and then think about why reading the Bible is a key part of transformation.

What is the difference between soul and spirit?

Dallas uses a car as an example. The spirit is the interface between the driver and the car. The steering wheel, door locks, GPS and such.  Things we consciously operate. The soul is the computer system behind it all. The soul regulates and organizes, the spirit takes action on the decisions. In all of this, hopefully it is God who is in charge of the driver!

As the soul is the organizer, the soul needs to function well in order for the rest of the parts of who I am to work well. When I am using my whole self in any endeavor of life, a healthy soul is absolutely essential. What are these areas?

Renovation of the Heart lists these examples:

Creativity, sleep, sex, parenting, relationships, health and meaningful work.

In our time, many of our most “brilliant” thinkers have dismissed the concept of the soul and its importance in integrating our lives in healthy ways. So, how’s it going?

Look at each of the aspects of human life and you tell me. One example is sleep. According to Archibald Hart, in The Anxiety Cure, half of all adult Americans suffer from some form of insomnia. Without a good night’s sleep, everything else is affected.

Or take sex. Is it is a private, intimate bonding experience for husbands and wives where “two become one,” on occasion bringing about new life for the next generation? Is that the purpose of sexual relations as designed by God? If so, how are we doing?

Marriage, parenting, work, friendships, love of neighbor—- how are we doing???

If the scholars who say we are simply “particles and progress” are correct, then what is their answer? Even if you deny the soul, you still have to get up in the morning and live life. I say, good luck scientific materialists (those who say the physical is all there is), but I am going with the evidence there is more to it than this.

Meaning and purpose are essential ingredients of a healthy life. Scientific materialism has no delivery system for this. In fact, it is more accurate to say that soul ruin is just around the corner for those stuck on the “life is only about me” motif.

Fortunately, we are not buying into the despair of hopelessness, meaninglessness, and skepticism that has been such a staple of the “intelligentsia” for the last 100 years. We need to get to the soul of the matter. More and more people are willing to look.

If the “real world” is actually the unseen spiritual world, then what does “get real” actually mean?

When we think of soul, there are three main ways to think of it.

First, is a vague characteristic we have or don’t have.

“He’s got soul.”

Second, is an immaterial entity that is contained within us.

“I love you down to my very soul.”

Third, is the belief the soul doesn’t exist at all. We are completely physical, and any other sense of who we are comes from electrical impulses in our brain circuitry and chemical reactions.

“It’s just how we are wired.”

Dallas offers a fourth view. Soul is beyond our body. It contains the body, but it is much bigger than that. Your soul is the organizing force that holds together heart, the mind’s thoughts and feelings, the body, and our relationships. The soul is the CEO of who we are.

According to Dallas, our soul is given to us by God at conception and through it creates and organizes our DNA and all the life that follows.

This may all seem strange, but if our souls are real and organizing our lives together, then we are missing out on some key knowledge of our very existence, as this is not a standard course of study in high school, university, or even churches nowadays. Let’s consider the soul…

Another way the soul has been explained is, “The soul is like the captain of a ship.” What does this look like to you?

You are not a collection of specific isolated ingredients. You are a being united and enmeshed into one unique human. Your soul is the glue that holds your heart, mind, body, and social life together. Your soul coordinates your life and manages the interaction of the other parts of who you are.

I live my life through my soul. I am hardly conscious of its work. The soul is not physical, but it is real. It is hard to understand the awesome nature of my soul, and of the five parts of who I am, it is the most involved. The soul responds to all aspects of my life.

God desires to transform my soul. It is not holy and pure on its own, but needs renovating like all the other parts of who I am. If I want to be like Jesus, I need to be changed from the very depths of who I am.

Let’s look at the vision to transform my soul. This is the most challenging aspect of who I am to explain, but it is essential we understand. We have to have the “big picture” view of everything else.

What has been your understanding of “soul”?