Thankfully, we have guides like Dallas Willard to help us make sense of Jesus and the overall biblical testimony concerning agape love that we’ve been discussing in the last couple of articles.

Recently a colleague gave me a pre-release copy of a new book, Kingdom Apprenticeship by Keas Keasler, that seeks to comprehensively articulate Willard’s theology. Today, we will focus on this quote about agape love.

The aim of God in human history is the formation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons who will one day share in God’s governance of the cosmos. Our present life is the training ground for becoming the kind of people—characterized by agape love—whom God can entrust with the responsibility.

None of us would argue with that, but we may scratch our heads like the disciples, wondering: “How does love become something more than merely a spiritual concept, a biblical ideal? How are we supposed to consistently love in practice?”

First, we must desire love, choose it.

The Apostle Paul alerts to the fact that love—and all other virtues—is something we actively choose on a routine basis, like deciding how to dress on a given day.

He writes:

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:12-14

The CEV translation says:

Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

The Message Version, picking up on Paul’s analogy of clothes, says:

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Second, we must take action—we must try to live love out.

The Apostle Peter picks up the centrality of our efforts:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

2 Peter 1:4-7

Working with the ideas of Paul and Peter, Dallas wanted to distinguish love from desire and locate it in the will to work toward the good of others. For him, it was critical that we understand that the actions of love are the overflow of a certain source, a specific disposition, a posture, a readiness to act, the bent of the will.

In simple terms, Dallas is pointing to a reality we all know: I desire breakfast tacos in Austin and German chocolate cake on my birthday. Such desires are very different from my will being set on loving others—working for their good.

The idea of set is crucial because it means that love is not turned on or off in certain settings or with regard to certain people.

If love is not turned off and on, but is meant to be more like a heartbeat or breathing, how do we rewire ourselves in that direction? What about the annoying people in our lives? What about the parts of me that just want to leave?

I’ve found the practice of intentionally noticing others, combined with forms of self-talk, to be helpful. It’s like spiritual people-watching. If I see a pregnant lady, I pray for her, the birth, the baby, the family. When I hear sirens, I thank God for first responders and pray for those in need of help. When I see a car stalled or abandoned on the shoulder of a freeway, I pray for the owner, for their financial well-being and personal peace.

That’s not much—not heroic, I know. But it does train me in the direction of noticing, caring, and wanting the good of others.

I found that rewiring my heart, away from self-centeredness and in the direction of otherliness, takes that sort of practice—and a lot of it!

Recently, I went to the Ryman Auditorium to see Vince Gill as a part of my 70^th birthday present from my wife, Debbie. Our seats were great—no more than 30 feet away from Vince’s fingers flying around the fret board. His body language and countenance demonstrated that his sophisticated guitar licks come from the overflow of a certain source, a specific disposition, a posture, a readiness to act. I could see that Vince wasn’t trying to play well. He was putting decades of training on display for all to enjoy.

That’s my dream for being a loving person: to be characterized by agape love. This means I have to do the little things that reform my soul so that when I am in public, others experience me for their good.

That is the definition of agape love—willing the good of others.

I’m sharing a few poetic reflections with all my subscribers to invite you to experience a new way of connecting to the Gospel of the Kingdom. Going forward, these poems will be exclusive to paid subscribers. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Here’s a few examples from recent memory:

1980s: The popular bumper sticker read, He who dies with the most toys wins!

2006: The hedonistic saying Eat, drink and be merry became the cultural phenomena of Eat, Pray, Love—a book depicting one woman’s journey to discover her truest desires and achieve self-fulfillment.

2022: Influencers on social media channels strove to achieve the most followers and the best brand collaborations.

2026: World leaders amass power, gaining the ability to dominate people and events with sophisticated technology.

I think you’ll agree the ideologies on offer are not working very well for us! Is there an alternative worldview we can embrace as followers of Jesus?

The Guiding Ideal

Jesus taught that love is the guiding ideal of life. When asked which is the greatest commandment, Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Matthew 22:34-40

Love is the fulfillment of all that God was doing through the Law-givers and prophets of Israel? Wow. That’s worth taking seriously. Centering love in the way Jesus suggests—cherishing it, treasuring it—certainly would rule out many of the words and actions we observe and engage in every day.

Paul also said that love fulfills the law:

Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8-10

Paul had awesome spiritual experiences. Think of the Damascus Road. He was once caught up into the highest heaven. Yet, upon reflection, he said,

But without love I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:2

The Apostle John deeply embodied the spirit of Jesus. He wrote:

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:11

Love in Modern Life

Do you think Jesus, Paul and John seem too idealistic? Are they out of touch with the stresses of modern life? Maybe they didn’t understand that loving others in 2026 makes us vulnerable to being run over in our families, friendships, businesses and politics.

I would argue that these men had a profound grasp of human nature. In his paper, Getting Love Right, Dallas Willard wrote:

Jesus and Paul were at least as intelligent and well-informed about the human self and its activities as Sigmond Freud, Carl Rogers, or B.F. Skinner (three foundational thinkers who shaped modern psychology). Just honestly read them and compare them thoroughly.

No matter how challenging or archaic it seems, I am completely convinced by the teaching of Jesus and his followers about love. We are called to cooperate with God to have a loving heart that overflows in habits of seeking the good of others. A life of love is truly the best kind of life.

Yes, love makes us vulnerable. We risk being hurt. We risk failing. We may lose confidence. But Eugene Peterson, in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, speaks for many of us:

And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily—open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride.

Dallas goes on to explain that the love extolled by Jesus and Paul:

…arises out of a certain prior condition of the self, something which involves an orientation of the whole self toward what is good and right.

Orienting our lives toward love is truly a long obedience in the same direction. It requires a vision of love that gives us spiritual energy and stick-to-it-iveness.

Is love the guiding ideal of your life? If not, what is? Do you believe that a life of love is worth the risk?

Next week, we will turn our attention to articulating a working definition of biblical love and the practices that make it possible in our daily lives.

“Love doesn’t do well in the grimy grind of daily life.”

Dallas Willard, Getting Love Right. 2007

Is this a true statement?

Upon first glance, it seems so. Almost daily it seems, wars break out, and people are objectified. Politicians ditch respect, and friends betray one another. The world seems full of hostility rather than love.

As I look around our world, I join Dallas in noticing two things:

1. Human beings take love for granted while centering other things.

Instead of love, we center our wills on our needs, desires, longings, appetites, plans. And because life does not bend easily to our wills, we push and pull with all our strength. We often harm people in our pursuit of control. Coming to the inevitable state of exhaustion, we simply do not have energy to consistently love well.

2. We don’t know how to become genuinely loving people.

Most of us have heard sermons on the key biblical passages. We’ve heard that love is a good thing. We’ve heard about ethics and morals. But no one has ever offered us a “course” on how to love.

So taking these two things into consideration, how do we become genuinely loving people in the grime of life? Over the next four weeks, I will interact with Dallas’ ideas about love, helping us apply them to our lives nearly 20 years later.

The Starting Point

We can’t talk about love without going back to the very beginning. Christian doctrine centers on a Trinity of Beings in an eternal circle of reciprocal love. All creation flows from and will return to that agapic reality.

Let me explain it this way. Ever seen a guitar player tuning strings? The musician is tuning to what is known as A440—the worldwide standard for pitch. The A note below middle C vibrates 440 times per second. The guitar player makes sure that each of the six strings accurately ring out their sounds tuned relative to that pitch.

Agape love is the A440 of Christian spirituality. Following Jesus has at its center the desire and determination to tune the elements of one’s life to love. It’s as if the six strings we seek to tune are our:

• Body: Used for kind acts, not callous attacks.

• Soul: Humble, compassionate, moved by empathy

• Spirit: Sweet, peaceful, bent to serving others

• Heart: Renovated in the direction of selfless love

• Will: Genuine desire to work for the good of others

• Mind: Of Christ who came to embody agape.

So if love is the Divine pitch of the whole world, we are called to sing in harmony with that pitch.

Finding Harmony

Be honest: Do you believe that love is the ultimate, foundational pitch of the universe, as embodied by the Trinity? Do you live with the confident instinct that people desire what is best for you—that they would very naturally use their bodily energy and financial resources to help you? Or do you sense that in general, people are looking out for themselves to the point of harming others, if that is what it takes to assure their own security?

I’m betting most of you have significant concern about how others—even family members and friends—will treat you. Furthermore, we know our own limitations regarding love. We are inconsistent at living out the good we intend to do for others. People can’t count on us 100% of the time. Threats to health, finances and relationships make us vulnerable, and, like turtles, we pull our life into the safety of an armored shell.

In the four posts to come, I will share how we can begin to overcome these obstacles and tune the various parts of our being to Agape love.

See you next week!

The surgery went well and I am recovering peacefully at home.

During the coming weeks of recuperation I will give much thought and prayer to upcoming content and how to best get it out. I am grateful to write for what I think of as “my beloved Substack community.”

Grace and peace to you,

Todd

Is video content more your thing, or do you prefer written posts? Please leave a comment below to let me know.

The whole team was lined up to be timed in a 30-yard dash. Most good players run it in 3.7 to a little over 4 seconds. Elite players run it in 3.5 – 3.55 seconds.

As I reached the starting line, a coach, with a huge smile on his face, put his stopwatch away and whipped a calendar out of his back pocket, yelling, “Come on, Hunter, you’re up!”

Later that year, when the head coach told me I was not likely to ever get drafted, I asked, “Why—what have the scouts said?” He took out a stopwatch from his yellow and green jacket, held it up, and clicked it a few times.

‘Nuf said.

Fortunately, in the months before this disheartening moment, I had become a Christian. When I told my coach about my calling to follow Jesus and enter the ministry, he, being a sincere Greek Orthodox man, encouraged me that the Christian life was my race to run.

Running the Race

Sure enough, I discovered that running the race was a significant analogy illuminating the disciplined persistence required of disciples.

Paul wrote:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Strict training to run a race can sound like “works-based righteousness.” That is a common confusion about life in Christ. Of course, unmerited grace is rightly valued. But God’s grace does not set us aside, as if how we run our race doesn’t matter. Grace has to do with more than forgiveness. God’s grace is his action in our lives enabling us to run our race in a single-minded way, a way that subordinates all other aspects of life to gaining the prize. ‘

Grace is the Divine fuel we burn in strict training as we run.

Along this line of thought, Peter prayed this blessing:

The God of all grace…make you strong, firm and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:10

Training in Righteousness

Paul expands on this idea in his second letter to Timothy. Using scripture study as a classic Christian workout, Paul writes:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3:16-17

The vision in this passage is the lifelong, active process of gaining a biblical worldview, of being shaped by the teachings of scripture.

The writer of Hebrews also stands in the Pauline tradition of running the race:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Hebrews 12:1

I love the video of veteran runner Dr. Chandler Self being helped to finish a marathon by a high school athlete named Ariana Luterman. Just steps from the finish line, despite super-human effort, Dr. Self bonked, as runners say. Her muscles quit functioning. She could go no further. That’s when Ariana stepped in to help her cross the finish line.

I’ve been running the Christian race for 50 years. I’ve certainly felt spiritually and emotionally bonked. In fact, as I neared my retirement as a Bishop, I found myself completely exhausted. So as a small discipline, I carried a medallion in my pocket. One side read: “Finish Strong.” The opposite read: “Fight the good fight…finish the race…keep the faith.” Each morning as I slipped it into my pocket, I felt a little empowerment from the Spirit, helping me get to the vocational finish line.

Two ways to keep going when you feel like giving up:

1. Gain nourishment. When your muscles fail, you can’t simply try harder. You’ve got to get back to the disciplines of training. Dr. Self looked back and realized that she lacked recovery time from a previous race, sleep and nourishment (fuel).

2. Rely on God’s grace. The presence of God is our Ariana. His grace does for us that which we cannot do on our own.

We just concluded our summer series (exclusive to paid subscribers) called Curing the Soul: 40 Days to Become a Seeker of Justice and Racial Repair.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life... Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Matthew 11:28–30 (MSG)

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Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.

Galatians 6:9–10a

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I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.

Isaiah 28:17

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Our ordinary human lives are the only ones we’ve got. They are the only ones through which we can live into Paul’s vision:

Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1

Body in this verse refers to the whole person (heart, soul, will, mind, emotions) expressed through bodily power as “the vehicle—the instrument—that implements the desires and choices of the redeemed spirit” (Expositors Bible Commentary).

The Message captures the essence of this text:

Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Everyday and ordinary are terms that alert us to the notion that discipleship and mission are not things we add to our already over-busy lives. Eugene Peterson, in his classic book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, makes this concrete:

The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day: this house you live in, this family you find yourself in, this job you have been given, the weather conditions that prevail at the moment.

But what about when life disappoints us? What about when we’re discouraged from unanswered prayer and the shattered faith of unmet expectations? At times, we lapse back into sin. Relationships fail. Unfair criticism gashes our soul.

Sometimes it seems like we “stink at life.”

God is unsurprised by any of it.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41

Jesus spoke those words when he found his disciples, his supposed prayer partners, asleep in his time of need. Peterson is characteristically brilliant on this passage:

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.

Even when life stinks, we must apply Jesus’ command to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). We must offer our actual life to God within its calendar and relationships; its ups and downs; its named people and tough moments. Such real-life, love-based cooperation is what Jesus was looking for in his sleeping friends.

The primary vision for following Jesus is this:

Offering Our Whole Life for an Entire Life

You might say, “But how will I ever make progress?” Well, artists and doctors are good models for us. They have a practice; they habitually exercise their craft; they apply specific disciplines to improve their skill. They are never perfect—but, wow, where would the world be without them?

No matter what your vocation, you can make slow and steady progress. I have two suggestions:

1. Learn to practice the presence of God moment by moment. This is core to your spiritual formation.

2. Look for divine appointments in the moments of your life. This is the key to unfeigned, unhurried mission as the cooperative friends of God.

Our embodied life in this fallen world will always be challenging and mundane. But as Jesus and Paul encourage us, we can daily offer our everyday, ordinary life to God as an act of worship.

This summer, we are journeying together through a series (exclusive to paid subscribers) called Curing the Soul: 40 Days to Become a Seeker of Justice and Racial Repair.

[May the] blood of Christ cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Hebrews 9:14

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Those who love violence, God hates with a passion.

Psalm 11:5

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If you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.

1 Peter 3:14

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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

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In the Jesus Movement in which I was saved, the words backslider or backsliding were fearful terms that carried disgrace for the one who received this label. No one wanted to be caught and called out for losing their religious fervor, for returning to old sinful habits, for regressing spiritually, or for losing one’s first love.

Many converts of this era came from the sex and drugs counterculture. Both of those things had become the identity for many young people in the ’60s and ’70s. Many of these same people found faith in Jesus, but some of them slid back into old habits.

Honestly, I don’t love the term backslider. It is a stereotype that carries with it unnecessary stigma. It is often the fruit of judgmentalism. No human being can be judged by a few frames of what is a lifelong movie. Sporadic church attendance or missing Bible Study or home group are often the first signs that cause us to wonder if so-and-so is backsliding, but those are assumptions that we should meet with curiosity, not judgment.

Nevertheless, we have all known moments in ourselves or witnessed in others a cooling of faith. We’ve recognized spiritual apathy in ourselves or church friends.

Not a New Problem

Losing passionate fidelity to God is a phenomenon that shows up often in the Bible.

For instance, though Jeremiah does not use the term backslider, he does, at many points, accuse Israel of turning its back on God in favor of idols. Jeremiah 4:1 is a good example:

“O Israel,” says the Lord, “If you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.

Jesus knows all about the reality of some people falling away after initial faith. In the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:13) he notes that some seeds of the Gospel fall on rocky ground. They are the ones who:

“..receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”

The Apostle John’s addresses to the churches of Aisa Minor in The Book of Revelation includes these words to the Church in Ephesus:

You have left (lost/forsaken) your first love.

Revelation 2:4

The churches John named were experiencing persecution. They had daily temptations to assimilate back into the corrupt, idolatrous social customs of the Roman Empire. They were tempted to pack it in, to give up on faith.

Regarding that state of being, not much has changed in the last 2,000 years.

What can we do when our own faith is fading?

1. Be Honest.

Alcoholics Anonymous knows it. Ignatian spirituality knows it: Spiritual growth begins with a candid assessment of reality. Where am I? What are the forces—internal and external—that got me here? What is keeping me here?

2. Be Patient.

Self-flagellation and shame will get you nowhere. A peaceful, curious, childlike attitude is what you want to cultivate. In the day of Amazon Prime Delivery and AI-empowered searches, patience is a countercultural virtue. But don’t be fooled, patience is one of the best pieces of gear you can carry on the uphill journey to stable, mature faith.

3. Be Determined.

Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.

Romans 12:9, MSG

But try gently; be easy on yourself. Small steps enable a long journey.

“Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame…be cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times.”

Romans 12:11-13, MSG

A Hopeful Reminder

Back in the day, one of my new convert buddies, Hank, backslid because he reunited with an old girlfriend who had no interest in faith. Soon their shared carnal instincts overrode Hank’s faith commitments.

Another friend Sarah backslid because she fell in with a “cool” group of New Age folks who had a tenuous appreciation for Jesus at best.

But you know what? Hank and Sarah found their way again to the path of faith. My friends were no worse than Jonah, who ran away from God, or Peter who denied the Lord. God’s love is better than the best written worship song and his grace more comprehensive than the most articulate theologian, and it powerfully draws us back to him.

If your faith is fading, try the steps I named above.

If a loved one has slid away, don’t panic. It will only alarm them. And often our alarm feels judgmental. Remember, God has not lost sight of them even if they’ve lost sight of him. Just be a safe, pressure-free friend who accompanies them on their journey.

Ask the Spirit to give you discernment about when to speak and what to say. Do your best and then abandon the outcome to God. Your peaceful presence will silently convey loving acceptance.

If Jesus restored Peter on the beach, he can find and restore your friend or loved one, too.

This summer, we are journeying together through a series (exclusive to paid subscribers) called Curing the Soul: 40 Days to Become a Seeker of Justice and Racial Repair.

Do not be afraid—I am with you! I am your God—let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.

Isaiah 41:10

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This summer, we are journeying together through a series (exclusive to paid subscribers) called Curing the Soul: 40 Days to Become a Seeker of Justice and Racial Repair.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

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This summer, we are journeying together through a series (exclusive to paid subscribers) called Curing the Soul: 40 Days to Become a Seeker of Justice and Racial Repair.

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