John Ortberg - The Me I Want to Be: Becoming Gods Best Version of You

Resources by John Ortberg

Everybodys Normal Till You Get to Know Them

(book, ebook, audio)

God Is Closer Than You Think

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Stephen and Amanda Sorenson)

If You Want to Walk on Water,
Youve Got to Get Out of the Boat

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Stephen and Amanda Sorenson)

Know Doubt

(book, ebook, previously titled Faith and Doubt)

The Life Youve Always Wanted

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Stephen and Amanda Sorenson)

Love Beyond Reason

The Me I Want to Be

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Scott Rubin)

Soul Keeping

(book, ebook, curriculum with Christine M. Anderson)

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Stephen and Amanda Sorenson)

Who Is This Man?

(book, ebook, audio, curriculum with Christine M. Anderson)

ZONDERVAN

The Me I Want to Be

Copyright 2010 by John Ortberg

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Zondervan titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@Zondervan.com.

ISBN 978-0-310-34056-0 (softcover)
ISBN 978-0-310-57246-6 (audio)
ISBN 978-0-310-57204-6 (ebook)

Epub Edition June 2020 9780310572046

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ortberg, John.

The me I want to be : becoming Gods best version of you / John Ortberg.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-310-27592-3 (hardcover, jacketed)

1. Self-actualization (Psychology) Religious aspects - Christianity. 2. Christian life. I. Title.

BV4598.2O68 2009

Scripture quotations marked TNIV are taken from the Holy Bible, Todays New International Version TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. TNIV and Todays New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Other translations used are the New International Version (NIV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the King James Version (KJV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), the New Living Translation (NLT), the Modern Language Bible (MLB), the Living Bible (TLB), and The Message.

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover photography: Getty Images

Printed in the United States of America

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication

contents

Love is eternal. What we achieve and possess may fade, but not love.

Books are gifts when they are acts of love. To what extent this book will be a gift only God knows, but I know that it would not have come into existence without much love from people who matter a great deal to me.

It started with a conversation on a golf course, when a few friends talked about a dream of creating a kind of movement for spiritual growth, and I talked about a book I hoped to write, and we wondered if what we hoped to do might intersect. What you hold is what we hope will be the first milepost on a long journey.

I am deeply grateful to Mark Bankord for his ceaseless encouragement and partnering and optimism and prayer. Sherri Bankord has offered wisdom and feedback; Eric Parks has been a fountain of energy and ideas; Nate May and Kevin Small have added enthusiasm and dreams; Elizabeth Maring and the entire Monvee team have been like working with family. Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois, gave me chances to teach on much of this material and get voluminous feedback that sharpened it enormously.

To Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, I am grateful beyond words for love and shepherding and the freedom to write.

Laura (formerly Ortberg) Turner read through the entire manuscript and made hugely helpful suggestions about content, references, and presentation. I am glad youre a J. Rick Blackmon has made amazingly generous contributions of his time and thoughts on the writing and beyond. Chuck Bergstrom gave both feedback and laughter. Ron Johnson gave wonderful insights on the structure and thoughts of the manuscript, and he cheered me on when I needed it most. My sister, Barbara Harrison, gave me a boost at just the right time.

I am grateful to Lindsay Lang and her team for creating visual illustrations that help illumine content with clarity and flair.

Trudi Barnes was helpful in a thousand ways. John Sloan and David Greene gave twice as much editorial panache as any writer could reasonably expect, and Jim Ruark did his usual excellent job of bringing clarity and life. John Topliff went above and beyond in helping create a unique partnership between a whole team of us involved in this project.

Neil Plantinga was kind enough to offer a long conversation about sin and spirit; I am lucky to get to talk to him. Dallas Willard gave more wisdom than any human being has a right to, as well as more love than I have a right to; his life is one of the reasons I believe.

And to my wife, Nancy I have never needed you more deeply or loved you more fully than in this season.

One evening my wife, Nancy, pulled me into our bedroom and said she wanted to talk. She closed the door so that none of the kids could hear, and she took out a list.

I was not happy to see a list. She claims it was an index card, not a list. But it had words written on it, so to me thats a list.

You know, she said, when our marriage is at its best, I feel we share responsibilities. We divide our work well and our kids see us do that and I feel valued, and I think thats important for our family. But for some time, because you feel so many demands on your life, this value has been slipping.

When our marriage is working well, I also feel like we both know each others lives. You know details about my life and I know details about yours. And I feel like thats been slipping too. Lately I know whats going on with you, but you dont ask me much about whats going on with me. She went on.

When our marriage is at its best, you also bring a kind of lightness and joy to it. Then she reminded me of a story.

We were on our second date, in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel waiting to get something to eat, and she had to use the restroom. When she came out, there were scores of people in the lobby, and I was in a goofy mood, so I said loudly enough for them all to hear, Woman, I cant believe you kept me waiting for two hours.

Her immediate response was, Well, I wouldnt have to if you didnt insist on having your mother live with us so I have to wait on her hand and foot every day. She yelled that, right across the lobby, on only our second date, and my first thought was, I like this woman