Customer Reviews

The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You

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I am not the me I want to be. You are not either. Both of us desire to become better people. But what does better mean? And how do we become better? In his latest book, John Ortberg answers both questions with gentle wit and spiritual insight.

Ortberg is pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California, and author of several books, including Love Beyond Reason; The Life You've Always Wanted; If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat; and God Is Closer Than You Think--all of which I highly recommend.

The Me I Want to Be is about spiritual formation, which Ortberg defines as "the process by which your inner self and character are shaped." Many people use the word spiritual in distinction from, or even contradiction to, physical. Two unfortunate consequences of this distinction are that it separates spirituality from everyday life and then narrowly equates spirituality with the spiritual disciplines. Ortberg rejects this distinction. Your whole life is spiritual, not just the praying, Bible-reading, and church-going part. And while spiritual disciplines are indispensable, they are not the only way God forms your inner self.

For Ortberg, a spiritually formed person is a flourishing person. He writes: "Your deepest longing should be to be alive with God, to become the person God made you to be, and to be used to help God's world flourish." Spiritual formation, then, involves your relationship with God, your growth in Christlikeness, and your mission to the world God is redeeming.

How do you become a flourishing person? "The only way to become the person God made you to be," Ortberg writes, "is to live with the Spirit of God flowing through you like a river of living water." Spiritual formation is not about trying harder, which only results in fatigue, failure, and guilt. Rather, spiritual formation is about discovering and moving with the flow of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, mind, use of time, relationships, and experiences.

For Ortberg, the Holy Spirit does not replace you, he redeems you. Spiritual formation is not about becoming wholly different than who you are now. It is about taking who you are now and refining you in God's image. Two examples: Drawing on the work of Michael Mangis, Ortberg talks about "signature sins." He writes, "the pattern of your sin is related to the pattern of your strengths." When you operate in the flow of the Spirit, God does not eradicate your strengths in order to eradicate your sins. Rather, he works out your sins to help you build on your strengths.

Another example: Many people believe that a spiritually well-formed person will go into some kind of vocational ministry. Ortberg strongly disagrees. The Bible is a book written by workers about workers for workers," he writes, and by workers he means people who are not vocational ministers. "Most adults spend about half their waking lives at work," he goes on to say. "Your work is a huge part of God's plan for your life, and God intends the Spirit to fill and energize workplaces. Work that gets done in offices and elsewhere...desperately requires the guidance and energy of the Spirit." Spiritually formed people will be pastors, evangelists, and missionaries, of course, but also lawyers, doctors, and plumbers. The first person in the Bible to be described as "filled with the Spirit of God" was Bezalel, who was not a priest, but an artisan.

Ortberg does not neglect spiritual disciplines in this book, but he does reframe the way we think about them in a very helpful way. Take prayer, for example. We think of prayer as a discreet activity that we participate in for a set number of minutes (or hours) each day. But Ortberg frames it differently. "The goal of prayer," he writes "is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God." Looked at this way, it becomes much easier to see how we can pray without ceasing and do everything to the glory of God. Our life as a whole, not just a set number of minutes a day, is prayer, an ongoing conversation with God.

As a Pentecostal Christian, I am greatly cheered to see an evangelical Christian talking so much about the Holy Spirit. Ortberg's book is a reminder that all Christians are the beneficiaries of the regenerating and sanctifying work of God through the Holy Spirit, and we have much to learn from others about these issues. Ortberg does not address the issue of baptism in the Spirit, however, which is the only downside to the book from a Pentecostal perspective.

Read it anyway! It will help you become the "me" God wants you to be.

So many new spiritual formation books are written each year that it's easy to ignore the entire subfield under the assumption that just about everything there is to say has already been said. I think there's some merit to that assumption.

But, applying that assumption to this book would be a mistake!

I see this book as a love letter from Rev. Ortberg to the Evangelical community. It's a beautiful - and often humorous - call to experience the joy of flowing with the Spirit. But, in calling us to a place of love and beauty and joy, Ortberg in no way minimizes the importance of obedience to Christ and surrender to Him. In other words, he writes with both feet planted firmly in the Evangelical world.

The book contains much more than ennobling rhetoric. Yes, Rev. Ortberg calls us to a higher place, and that message is convicting. But, he also provides practical tools and tips for getting there. As you read this book, you'll feel as if you were a member of Rev. Ortberg's church and had come to him, with a request for spiritual mentoring.

The practical application material covers a wide variety of topics. But, don't be deceived by the breadth of topics covered or Rev. Ortberg's conversational writing style. This book isn't just broad and chatty, it is also very, very deep! It reflects what C.S. Lewis refers to as "the simplicity that lies beyond complexity."

The seamless interweaving of Scripture and practical application material will both challenge you to grow closer to God and provide tools for doing so. Most importantly, I'm already applying that material, and I've committed to revisiting the book from time to time, as a spiritual "checkup". I've benefitted from this book, and I highly recommend it.

I've been on this intimacy journey these past 12 months as God keeps drawing me to Himself. I've read many helpful books along the way and John Ortberg's book is a refreshing practical guide to walking an intimate life with God.

Ortberg emphasises we all have a unique journey which is important to reflect on. How many times are we drawn to have our prayer times along the beach, or spend days fasting, or doing such and such, just because we've heard these practical ways have helped others to develop greater intimacy with God? Seek out God in our own individual way, He'll lead us, if we have the desire and the will to find it.

Ortberg takes us through various aspects of our life: thought life, temptation, worrying, spiritual life, relationships and work. He adopts a good mix of sound scripturally-based instruction, psychology with research results (yes, there are lab rat results provided in some chapters), analogies, examples and practical steps to step us through how we can enhance each area of our life to draw closer to God.

The book starts strong and continues in that vein for the majority of it. I found it flattened out a little through the middle, however, that maybe because he covered similar themes to that which I've spent a lot of time thinking through already. But the book ends with a bang. The last 2 chapters in particular dealing with trials and "asking for mountains to climb" are just superb. The life story of a Evelyn "Granny" Brand is wonderfully inspiring.

If you are someone who has a longing to be "alive with God, to become the person God made you to be, and to be used to help God's world flourish" and am seeking some instruction on how to achieve such, then buy this book, devour it and start putting into practice some of the ideas Ortberg proposes. I've already started implementing some, particularly, those relating to my thought life.

Congratulations John on a terrific book filled with such insight, passion and desire to help others achieve intimacy with God.

I've been pleasantly surprised by this book. After years of reading books of this nature, you start to realize that some of them say the very same thing as the last one you read. Not so with Ortberg! This book is not only biblically sound, it is hilarious. If you like a good anecdotes mixed in with your scripture, I'd highly recommend this book. Every time I sit down to read a chapter or two, I chuckle, I'm forced to pause and ponder the points Ortberg is making, and I feel like I've learned something by the time I put it down. 5 stars!!!

I will admit that this book wasn't what I thought it would be. It was OH so much more!

I spent a good, long time reading this book. I really tried to take in all that the author was relating. I see this book as an exhortation to really delve into those urgings from the Holy Spirit in your life. Those urgings are there for a reason. Following them will help to change you into the you God wants you to be....which is the me I want to be.

Mr. Ortberg's sense of humor is a dry wit. Those little funny sayings are filtered throughout the book. You almost expect to see the classic sideways smiley face at the end of the sentence. :) Course, sometimes, that little smiley face would let you know that he was indeed being funny. A few times, I had to re-read a few sentences to be sure.

I have not gone to the website to take the monvee spiritual growth assessment yet. There is a code for you to access this site for a free trial in the back of your book.

This book is a challenge to Christians to truly follow Christ. To seek Him and what He wants for your life. I heartily recommend this book...just be prepared to be challenged...and to spend the time while reading it to seek what God is telling you.

*I was given a copy of The Me I Want To Be by Zondervan Publishers in exchange for my honest review*

I was moved today to follow my gut feeling to go into a little Christian bookstore before going grocery shopping. God's been trying to get my attention for the last little bit, popping up in conversations, having people knock on my door, being the main topic of very late night television. And I like the "idea" after all I do believe in God and I like to think that I'm a decent person, but I've got to be honest my past attempts to go to church didn't do anything for me, I didn't feel welcomed, the hypocrites abounded, the folks were outlandish, I wasn't "worthy", or the message was rigid and made me feel like if I didn't believe, look, act, etc like everyone else there then God didn't want me because I wasn't like those people.

And today I found the me I want to be. I completely disagree with the reviewer who only gave this book 1 star and said to just read the Bible. I mean honestly, sometimes (lets be completely honest here) the Bible is dry as dry can be if you don't "get it" or if you've had people trying to shove the word down your throat when what one really needs is the spirituality and a good example of it in action. A person isn't going to "get it" until something inspires them, I'm not saying that I am even there now but at least John Ortberg put God and His plan for my life into a concept that I could relate to.

The Me I Want To Be is the first book written by John Ortberg I've read. And what a first read it is! It spoke to the intellect but captivated my heart by its authenticity.
I was thoroughly fascinated by his ability to present an in depth study of Spiritual formation without making it laborious reading. Mr. Ortberg kept me engaged from the first to last chapter by weaving scripture, personal accounts, others studies, and sometimes quite humorous anecdotes into a book I did not want to finish because of the enjoyment and value it gave me throughout.
There is not one page in my book in which a thought, sentence, or paragraph, is not underlined, asterisked, or highlighted. The Me I Want To Be has become a compendium of spiritual insights to which I have frequently referred.
I recently shared a passage from this book with my Sunday school class on how perseverance was being shaped in the life of Joseph. The intent was to illuminate more on the subject, but too, of whetting the classes appetite for presenting more of John Ortberg and his small group studies. I have since purchased The Me I Want To Be curriculum and am looking forward to using it for our next study.

John Ortberg wrote The Me I Want To Be > Becoming God's Best Version of You . He emphasizes the fact that we are made by God for a purpose and our qualities are His workmanship. Ortberg believes that there are ways we can be more authentic and fulfill our purpose, which is not what we do, but who we are. The closer we become to being who God created us to be, the closer we will be to God. Ortberg points out some lies and misconceptions Christians can have that keep us from being our best selves, from believing truth.

I admit, when I read the book cover and the first few pages, I was afraid this was another Christian Self-Help book full of cliches and New Age ideas. As I read further along, I began to see that I was wrong. I think Ortberg may have erred in the naming and publicity of his book; that both are misleading. This book is actually a great study on some of the common mistakes in the ways Christians view themselves, their circumstances, and God's divine plan. So much would be rectified if we changed our attitudes about those things. I know that my attitude has improved after reading passages that challenged several excuses I had been making.

I know this book also has supporting material such as group study guides and dvd sessions which would make this a great study for a small group, Sunday school class, or even just a group of friends.

The Me I Want to Be is written by John Ortberg and published by Zondervan Publishing. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

This book answers the deepest need in the people I minister to me. Sin and failure has changed them, while guilt and doubt has destroyed them. This book brings us to a place of healing. Most people I have given this book to say the same thing. "It was like he was talking about me" Awesome

I will read this book once a year to keep this fresh thinking "fresh" in my mind. I have read and loved every book written by John Ortberg. This one is his BEST.