Of all the dimensions of a human it is the will that most hinders our growth. It is not too difficult to grow in our knowledge of God and even fully embrace his truth. We can even develop a powerful desire for God and find our emotions directed towards God.But when it comes to the will we easily avoid making hard decisions. Unfortunately, there is no growth in maturity without developing a robust will. Embracing truth and desiring God do not produce maturity without activating the will. And in cultures where self-control is neglected and people are taught to just go with what they feel then the problem of the will becomes even worse.
When God regenerates us in Christ we begin with an infant New Adam will. This will needs to grow through exercise like a muscle. If you had a dramatic conversion then perhaps you will enjoy a strong will for awhile. But it is the common experience of Christians through the centuries that they find their will to be much weaker than their desire. This is one reason the New Testament is constantly encouraging us to act on our faith. If we do not commit ourselves to making choices that might be distasteful at first then we will never develop a will that can stay true to God. It will be a weak link that the Enemy is constantly taking advantage of. If we learn to choose regardless of distasteful feelings then we will experience a snowball effect in our growth. We will find ourselves carried along by God’s great power in Christ and breaking through the barriers in our way. In time our tastes flip so that the old ways become distasteful and the new ways become sweet. God delights in this maturity of our will because he is passionate about seeing us freely choosing to love him with our whole self. He desires the union of love with us.
For those of you who are afraid that I am advocating living the Christian life by one’s own strength rest assured that I am not. God’s grace comes first. And if our hearts are committed to dependence on God then when we exercise our will we are just cooperating with his grace. He does not want us to be completely passive. He wants us to develop the will of our New Adam so we can be mature participants in his kingdom on the coming New Earth.
We have a very interesting description from the Apostle Paul that explains how we can walk in the mystery of will. In Colossians 3:28-29 Paul describes how he joins his will to God’s: “Him [Christ]we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (ESV). As Paul lives out his calling to bring believers to maturity he works with God’s energy. This is a strange statement. How can someone strive but use someone else’s energy to do so? I can work with my own energy and you can work with your energy, but you cannot work with my energy. Even if I somehow inspire you, you still can’t use my energy to actually do your work. But God’s arrangement transcends human limitations. He provides power inside us but he also wants us to use our energy to struggle and battle in our calling to maturity. As we struggle we are actually using our energy and God’s energy at the same time. The more we practice this the more we will find the right balance at the right times.
You can find part two on the will here.
