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

Your flourishing is never just about you. It is a so that kind of condition. God designed you to flourish so that you could be part of his redemptive project in ways that you otherwise could not. He wants you to flourish so that people can be encouraged, gardens can be planted, music can be written, sick people can be helped, or companies can thrive in ways they otherwise would not. When you fail to become the person God designed, all the rest of us miss out on the gift you were made to give.

The Me I Want to Be, ch. 2

As you watch the session one video teaching segment, featuring John Ortberg, take notes below on anything that stands out to you. An outline has been provided to help you follow along.

Flourishing means becoming you-ier restored, not exchanged; living up to your full potential!

[Your Notes]

Counterfeit versions of me that I sometimes choose:

[Your Notes]

But the best version of me is

[Your Notes]

1. Of the five versions of counterfeit mes noted in the chart on page 10, which one do you think you most gravitate toward? Why? What circumstances in your life affect this tendency?

[Your Response]

2. God is highly concerned about you reaching your full potential and he doesnt get discouraged in the process. John Ortberg says that we cannot follow God if we dont trust he really has our best interests at heart. Can you relate to this thought? Why or why not?

[Your Response]

3. Where have you seen F.T.T. (failure to thrive) in the world? How about in your own life?

[Your Response]

4. If someone were to ask you how your spiritual life is going, what factors would you consider in your response? How would you go about assessing yourself?

[Your Response]

In The Me I Want to Be, Ortberg says that a wise man suggested answering this spiritual life assessment by responding to two questions:

Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?

Am I growing more easily irritated these days?

How would you answer these questions today? And from your answers, how would you gauge your spiritual life?

[Your Response]

5. If flourishing is being full of joy, peace, and curiosity and possessing an openness to learning and a desire to lean into challenges, then the oppositelanguishingwould mean lacking mental and emotional vitality and being uneasy, full of discontent, and self-focused. On a continuum, where would you place yourself between flourishing and languishing most of the time?

Have you ever thought of yourself as too young, too old, or too [Your Reponse] (fill in the blank) to flourish? Is there any shift you need to make in your own perspective?

[Your Response]

1. Have you ever undertaken a home improvement or restoration project? What was the end result? (Very briefly share your responses.)

[Your Response]

In restoring or fixing something, we can experience its full effectiveness and its full magnificence.

Read together 2 Corinthians 5:17:

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

Becoming a new creation doesnt mean becoming completely different but, as Ortberg explains, being restored to [our] intended beauty. What holds you back from leaning into becoming all God intended you to be? How does your hesitation in that area affect those around you?

[Your Response]

2. Read together Psalm 92:12 13:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

God is interested in your individual restoration and growth. If you were an acorn, God would not want or expect you to become a rosebush he designed acorns to become oak trees. Flourishing is becoming more of what God made you to be.

Is there something youre trying to be that God did not design you for? Have you given up (consciously or not) on some God-given dreams? What experiences, thoughts, or reasons have contributed to that?

[Your Response]

3. Joy is a gift that God gives us when we are flourishing and in step with the Holy Spirit. Read together 1 Peter 1:8:

Though you have not seen him [Jesus], you love him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

Have you ever experienced this kind of inexpressible and glorious joy that Peter describes? How would others describe your joy factor? What would be their evidence?

[Your Response]

4. Rest is another factor in becoming who God made you to be. Rest is important enough that even God rested when he created the world. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:29 that he desires us to find rest. Read together his words: