The premise for John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be : becoming God’s best version of me, is that the most important task of your life is not what you do, but who you become. God is in the business of making us the best version of ourselves. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are not our handiwork; our lives are not our projects. We are to become the person God had in mind when he created us.
John shares two questions which helps us assess the well-being of our souls.
1. Am I growing more easily discouraged these days? If peace is growing in me, I am less easily discouraged.
2. Am I growing more easily irritated these days? If love is growing, I am less easily irritated.
The rest of the book is about developing spiritual disciplines, but not spiritual disciplines as we know them. Rather John looks at the uniquely different ways people grow spiritually and encourages his reader to find their own spiritual path which will help them become the person God intends. There is no simple, three-step guide to spiritual growth, God wants us to have a unique relationship with him so there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Like all John’s books, he intersperses his teaching with funny anecdotes and witty comments.
A good read.
