❤️ Book Review: Getting Love Right by Dallas Willard (Kindle Edition)
A profound and concise meditation on the nature of love in Christian life—Dallas Willard offers clarity, depth, and spiritual insight in this short but powerful essay.
🧠 Overview
Originally presented as a paper at the American Association of Christian Counselors conference in 2007, Getting Love Right was later published as a 12-page Kindle edition in 2012. This work by Dallas Willard, a renowned philosopher and Christian thinker, explores the Apostle Paul’s teachings on love, particularly the concept of agape—the selfless, divine love central to the New Testament.
Willard’s goal is to help readers move beyond vague or sentimental notions of love and toward a biblically grounded understanding that informs how we live, relate, and grow spiritually.
✨ Key Themes
- 📖 Agape love clarified: Willard explains how Paul’s writings help us understand the distinctiveness of Christian love compared to cultural definitions
- 🧠 Spiritual formation: Love is not just an emotion—it’s a practice rooted in discipleship and transformation
- 🗣️ Misconceptions addressed: Willard challenges popular but shallow interpretations of love, offering a richer theological framework
- 🕊️ Practical implications: The essay encourages believers to embody love in everyday relationships, church life, and counseling
“There is, needless to say, much confusion about love, and what Paul says about it, as well as his practice, can help us to get agape love—and therewith all the other ‘loves’ of the Greek and other languages—right.” — Dallas Willard
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: 4.60/5 from over 400 readers
- 📖 Readers praise the essay’s clarity, depth, and spiritual richness
- 🧾 Many consider it a valuable resource for counselors, pastors, and anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of Christian love
- 💬 “Short but incredibly insightful. Willard distills the essence of love in a way that’s both intellectually satisfying and spiritually nourishing.” — Goodreads reviewer
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Very short format: At 12 pages, it’s a focused reflection—not a full-length book
- 📚 Best for spiritually engaged readers: Ideal for those familiar with Willard’s work or interested in Christian theology
- 🧾 Not a how-to guide: It’s a philosophical and theological meditation, not a practical manual
🏁 Final Verdict
Getting Love Right is a thoughtful and spiritually enriching essay that distills Dallas Willard’s wisdom on one of Christianity’s most essential virtues. For readers seeking clarity on what it truly means to love as Christ taught, this Kindle edition offers a brief but transformative perspective.
