The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg
The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg is the first book of John’s that I have read. As the title suggests, the book is about becoming the best you. It is about becoming the you that God intends you to be. Life is about flourishing. What helps me to grow and experience God is different from what will help someone else grow and experience God.
The book became very personal for me as I was reading. I started reading it for content and knowledge, but I found myself really personalizing the information. I know a lot about myself regarding my strengths, my spiritual gifts, etc. The problem for me has been that I’m a perfectionist. And being a learner / achiever who is a perfectionist, I get caught up in what I’m “supposed” to do regarding spiritual formation and disciplines. I do what I think people expect of me rather that doing what I love most and what really connects me to God. “Perfect” example: I’m not able to spend extended amounts of time in prayer. My mind wanders. I think of all the things that I need to get done. This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want me to spend time in prayer. Of course he does! But prayer for me looks different from prayer for someone else. Prayer for me involves reading, learning, observation, and note taking / journaling.
I feel like reading this book gave me permission to be “me” and the encouragement to continue to discover who that “me” really is.
Conclusion: It is an easy, fast read. I’ll be processing on this one for a while. Excellent. Highly recommended read.
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