I recently heard Dallas Willard make a comment in a talk he gave in 2003. He said:

“Jesus never healed anyone’s character… you don’t change persons by miracles.”

I had to stop and think about it. He healed the sick, cast out demons, even raised the dead. Willard was correct. Jesus never stretched out his hand to make an angry person more patient. Nor a lustful person chaste. Nor an anxious person peaceful. Nor a person filled with hatred a person filled with compassion.

Instead, he spoke about the essential need to become a person of genuine good character. For example, in Matthew 5, Jesus discusses the internal human brokenness of anger, lust, divorce, verbal manipulation, vengeance, and loving one’s enemies. He then summarizes this discussion with, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are to become people who embody God’s character of love.

But notice Jesus didn’t miraculously impart this character to people. I mean, the perfect ending to his discussion would be to say, “If anyone wants to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and gentle, come forward and I’ll heal you.” But he didn’t do it at this time or at any other.

In fact, the discussion in Matthew 5 is preceded by this summary:

“News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” Matthew 4: 24-25

I think it’s safe to say that many of the people listening to Jesus discuss character were the same people that he previously healed of physical diseases.

So if Jesus could heal physical diseases, why doesn’t he heal character? Frankly it would be nice if he would miraculously take away my anger, anxiety, lust, selfishness, vanity, pride, impatience, and other character flaws that plague me. I think the answer is that at its core, spiritual formation — the process of being shaped ultimately into God’s character as embodied by Jesus — has to do with the human will. You have to choose.

I think our current character is the product of our self-centered will choosing over and over and over until deep habits have been formed in our thinking, feeling, body and relationships. These habits then reinforce and empower our self-centered will so it’s virtually incapable of choosing differently.

Have you ever decided to act in a positive way in a moment, but when the moment arrived, you acted in a completely different way? Think about dieting. Or trying to quit smoking. Or trying not to get angry at that co-worker who always pushes your buttons.

The entire goal of human history within this creation is to be formed into a community of love, where each person is capable of easily and routinely choosing to love as God loves, and then is able to competently and powerfully carry out that decision. In other words, to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

This cannot be miraculously imparted to a person. Core to a life of embodying God’s love is a will that chooses to surrender to him moment-by-moment. That’s how the human will is designed to function. It has to choose, to decide constantly to surrender to God. But as I mentioned above, we have learned to constantly choose self over God. The direction of our will is converted into deeply ingrained habits in our thoughts, feelings, bodies and relationships. And these habits now reinforce our self-focused will. Therefore, our entire person needs to be retrained under Jesus’ tutelage and the Spirit’s power. 

The good news is that this can be done! Jesus is the most intelligent person who has walked this planet and is the master of all aspects of human life. He knows how to retrain a person into God’s character. And he invites you and me to come and learn from him.