Dallas Willard Quotes

A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice – a practitioner… Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.

Discipleship never consists in this or that specific action: it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ.

The assumption of Jesus' program for his people on earth was that they would live their lives as his students and co-laborers.

I believe it to be one of the most important discipleship resources we have produced at Ligonier.

To follow Jesus implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the one who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derivative from Jesus, formed by the influence of Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we can't separate what Jesus is saying from what Jesus is doing and the way that he is doing it. To follow Jesus is as much, or maybe even more, about feet as it is about ears and eyes" (The Way of Jesus, Eugene H. Peterson, 22).

Because I am not yet living up to what Jesus expects me to be in those red letters in the Bible, I always define myself as somebody who is saved by God's grace and is on his way to becoming a Christian. (...) Being saved is trusting in what Christ did for us, but being Christian is dependent on the way we respond to what he did for us.

Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine.

If you have a group of people come together around a vision for real discipleship, people who are committed to grow, committed to change, committed to learn, then a spiritual assessment tool can work.

The idea of having faith in Jesus has come to be totally isolated from being his apprentice and learning how to do what he said.

Being a Christian means renouncing ourselves, taking up the cross and carrying it with Jesus. There is no other way.

Jesus did not send us into the world to make believers but to make disciples.

How wonderful it is to be surprised by God’s call, to embrace his word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus... Your life will become richer and more joyful each day!

...if I do not introduce people to Jesus, then I don't believe Jesus is an important person. It doesn't matter what I say.

To follow Jesus means putting him first, and stripping ourselves of all the things that oppress our hearts.

No one can truly know Christ unless they follow him in life.

If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus.

We meet God through entering into a relationship both of dependance on Jesus as our Saviour and Friend and of discipleship to Him as our Lord and Master.

We're not thinking straight if we say we want to be like Jesus but we don't want to go through anything Jesus went through!

You really can't justify anything else but giving your whole attention to spiritual formation in Christ.

The honour of Jesus Christ is at stake in your bodily life. Are you remaining loyal to the Son of God in the things which beset His life in you? Do you continue to go with Jesus? The way lies through Gethsemane, through the city gate, outside the camp; the way lies alone, and the way lies until there is no trace of a footstep left, only the voice, 'Follow Me.'

It’s hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God’s new age, a kingdom of surprise.

The Bible is teh means through which we are introduced to Jesus and invited to follow Him in the life of humility and service. Secured by the knowledge that in Christ, our origin... and destination is God, we will yield the fruit of service to God. This is the "so what" of our Bible reading. Does it shape our spirits in love and humility? Does it lead us more fully into life with God? (Life with God, p. 34-35)

I'm out to take the Bible, create disciples who make disciples, disciple cycles.

If all it took was someone proclaiming I believe Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins, and that was all there was to it, people wouldn't have to keep coming to church, would they.

Jesus beckons his followers to a path that's far from the easy road. It's a path filled with adventure, uncertainty, and unlimited possibilities - the only path that can fulfill the deepest longings and desires of your heart.