Words Matter!
- Angela Moore
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Simply put, words matter. They especially matter in the church world, where language has gotten a little… squishy. And that’s not helping anyone. I recently heard John Ortberg say that Dr. Dallas Willard “went to war on vagueness.” That’s such a perfect way to describe the care Dallas took with words—and the clarity he brought to the life with God.
Consider this my small contribution to that same work. Over hundreds (probably thousands) of hours reading and studying Dallas’s teachings, I’ve been compiling a kind of “dictionary” for the with-God life. Unless otherwise noted, everything here comes straight from Dallas—his books, lectures, and talks. Sometimes, a quote comes from another senior apprentice to Dallas and if so, I'll cite accordingly. This page (and the whole site) are searchable, so don’t hesitate to type in a term and explore what you find.
Love: Love is will for good. If you love something, you will what is good for it.
Joy: Joy is a pervasive sense of well-being. Joy comes naturally when we are confident about who we are and what we are doing.
Peace: Peace is the rest of will that results from assurance about how things will turn out.
Grace: Grace is God is acting in our lives to accomplish what we cannot accomplish on our own.
Grace is opposed to the attitude of effort; it is not opposed to the action of earning.
We “grow in grace” by learning to accept more of the action of God in your life.
Hope: Hope is the anticipation of good.
Fear: Fear is the anticipation of evil.
Beauty: Beauty is God’s goodness made manifest to the senses.
Prayer: Prayer is talking to God about what we’re doing together.
Forgiveness: Forgiveness means to release the intention of ‘paying back.’
Forgiveness does not mean to forget; it does not mean that I stop hurting; it does not mean that I behave toward the person that I forgive, just as I did before they did what was wrong.
Worship: Worship is admiration to the point of wonder and delight.
Eternal Life: Eternal life is knowing God, and Jesus Christ. ~ defined by Jesus in John 17:3. Note Dallas's definition of "knowledge," which is interactive relationship.
Anger: Anger is the emotion that occurs when one’s will is crossed.
Pride: Pride is the basic sin. Pride is fundamentally self-sufficiency.
Hurry: Hurry is a fear response. Acting quickly is an action and doesn’t require hurry.
Truth = Reality.
The Gospel Jesus Proclaimed: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7
“This is a call for us to reconsider how we have been approaching our life, in light of the fact that we now, in the presence of Jesus, have the option of living within the surrounding movements of God’s eternal purposes, of taking our life into his life.” (TDC p23)
Sovereignty of God: The sovereignty of God doesn’t come in the form of inflicting evil actions and bad things on people. It comes in his capacity to bring things out for good no matter what happens.
The Presence of God: God is present everywhere; that’s a theological truth. He’s not manifest everywhere. The manifest presence of God is different than the ontological presence of God.
The Good Life: What is the Good Life? According to Jesus and Paul…
Life to the full (John 10:10). Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Gal. 5:13) Regardless of the circumstance (Phil. 4:13) read more here
“In Jesus’ Name” means to act in his name, for his benefit, and from his resources.
It’s like giving someone a Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney gives someone the right and responsibility to act on my behalf from my resources.
What We Believe (Or Say We Believe) read more here
Profession: Profession is a statement of one’s beliefs, intentions or faith.
Commitment: Commitment is acting as if you believe; choosing and implementing a course of action.
Commitment is often confused with belief, but commitment doesn't need to involve belief, much less knowledge.
Too often, ministers try to get you to commit to something you don’t believe. If you commit to what you don’t believe, you must continually recommit. If you believe it, you’ll stay committed.
Belief: Belief is the readiness to act as if it were true (even if it is not true).
Belief has no necessary ties to truth, good method, or evidence.
Belief involves the will in a way that knowledge does not.
Knowledge: Knowledge is interactive relationship. We have knowledge of something when we are representing it (thinking about, speaking about, etc.) as it is, on an appropriate basis of thought and experience.
If you know something, you can think and talk about it and represent it as it actually is.
Knowledge requires truth. Truth isn’t relative.
Faith: Faith is knowledge (the ability to represent things as they really are) AND confidence, which creates a readiness to act.
Faith is opposed to sight, not to knowledge.
On Sin & Salvation
Sin: Sin is an archery term that means “to miss the mark.” It is a condition we are in.
“Sin is not the breaking of arbitrary moral rules; it is the opening of our body to a lethal disease of the soul.” ~ John Mark Comer
The wages of sin is death. Sin does the killing, not God!
Death to Self: Dying to self means we will not be surprised or offended at not getting what we want. “I’m ok if I don’t get my way.” ~ John Ortberg.
"(Apprentices of Jesus) do not have to look out for themselves because they are not in charge of their lives; rather, God is. They appropriately look after things that concern them, but they do not worry about outcomes that merely adversely affect their own desires and feelings. They are free to focus their efforts on the service of God and others and the furthering of good." (Reno p47-49)
Salvation: Salvation doesn't mean simply being rescued from the consequences of our wrong choices. It doesn't mean being delivered into better circumstances. It means being changed. Salvation isn't primarily a matter of going to the good place. It's about becoming good people. Salvation is a life. ~ Dallas Willard
When you are focused on just getting into heaven when you die, you need to think about not just if you are going to make it in, but will you like it if you get there?
Can you imagine someone who doesn’t want to have anything to do with God here, going to heaven? When they get there, there’s going to be one great unavoidable fact: God. If you don’t like God, heaven is not the place to be.
Pearls of Wisdom
More than simple definitions, these gems from Dallas are equally profound and critically important.
Who Am I?
I am an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.
I am a beloved child of God and I live in the strong and unshakeable Kingdom of God.
Who is God?
God is a radiant, happy, friendly, accessible and totally competent being – the most joyous being in the universe.
God is an immaterial, intelligent and free personal being of perfect goodness, wisdom and power, who made the universe and continues to sustain it, as well as to govern and direct it in his providence.
Life Without Lack
A life without lack is a life in which one is satisfied and sustained, completely, no matter what happens.
The secret to a life without lack is rooted in our knowledge of God; having one’s mind constantly and fully fixed upon God as he is, confident he will provide all we need.
The most important thing about you is your mind, and the most important thing about your mind is what it is fixed upon. The object is to have your mind always fixed on God.
Defining a Radiant Life: (Dallas’s prayer for you)
A rich life of joy and power
Abundant in supernatural result
With a constant clear vision of your never-ending life in God’s world, and the...
Everlasting significance of your work, day by day
“A Cup Running Over” ~ Renewing the Christian Mind
Those who experience moral failure are those who have failed to live a deeply satisfied life in Christ. My temptations come out of situations where I am dissatisfied, not content and think… “I deserve something better.”
The surest guaranty against failure is to be so at peace with God and satisfied with God that when wrongdoing presents itself it isn’t even interesting.
Steps toward finding satisfaction in Christ…
Have substantial times every week to do nothing but enjoy God. Think about the good things God has done for you.
“The main obstacle to love for God is service to God.” ~ Henri Nouwen
There is a place for effort…it must never take the place of God with us. Our efforts are to make room for God in our life.
Sources
I will continue updating this page with additional definitions and pearls, as well as building out a more detailed "works cited" list. For now, you can refer to the list of books and talks on my page here, or note the following:
KCT = Knowing Christ Today
Reno = Renovation of the Heart
LWOL = Life WIthout Lack
TDC = The Divine Conspiracy
