Love Does turn me into The Me I Want to Be

“Self-improvement is no more God’s plan than self-salvation. God’s plan is not just for us to be saved by grace – it is for us to live by grace. God’s plan is for my daily life to be given, guided, guarded, and energized by the grace of God. To live in grace is to flow in the Spirit.” – John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be

“The thing I love about God is He intentionally guides people into failure. He made us be born as little kids who can’t walk or talk or even use a bathroom correctly. We have to be taught everything. All that learning takes time and He made us so we are dependent on Him, our parents, and each other. The whole thing is designed so we try again and again until we finally get it right. And the whole time He is endlessly patient.” – Bob Goff, Love Does



It is not my practice to blog book reviews, but I just finished Love Does by Bob Goff, and The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg, and my mind is reeling.

I almost passed on Ortberg’s book, because the title screamed self-help -- and to clarify, that’s pretty much what it is -– but something about it intrigued me and I’m so glad I invested the time. Such valuable knowledge is to be gained from this read. It has easily climbed the ladder to one of my favorite books, and I’ve been recommending both of these left and right. If you’re looking for some summer reading, start with these two!

Do you mind if I share just a few more of my favorite quotes from these books, and how God spoke to me through them?

 

“God isn’t at work producing the circumstances you want. God is at work in bad circumstances producing the you he wants.”

The Me I Want to Be

I’m going to cheat here and include another quote from this book, “God himself can only bless me in my circumstances today. If I cannot experience the Spirit in the work I am doing today, then I can’t experience the Spirit today at all.” God is blessing us all in whatever circumstances we presently find ourselves. He is using them to shape us into who He wants us to be. We all go through tough times, and if you are not currently feeling His blessings, the question begs to be asked…are you actually opening yourself up to receive them?

“Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us.”
Love Does

It’s our choice. And it all comes down to perspective. What scars in your life continue to bring you shame, bitterness or hurt? What circumstances have you allowed to change your character and your outlook?

 

“Your ‘spiritual life’ is not limited to certain devotional activities that you engage in. It is receiving power from the Spirit of God to become the person God had in mind when he created you – his handiwork.”
The Me I Want to Be

God created each one of us for a specific purpose. We are here at this time, in this location, to interact with other people who God also decided would best serve His kingdom here and now to do things that He has already created for us! With such intentionality behind what God has prepared for us, there’s no wonder that the things we try to force into our lives fail miserably!

“Palms up means you have nothing to hide and nothing to gain or lose. Palms up means you are strong enough to be vulnerable, even with your enemies.”

Love Does

Goff shares how he instructs his clients who are being deposed to answer the judge and opposing lawyers questions: sitting with their hands on the back of their knees and their palms facing the sky. He links body posture to heart posture. I’ve even tried it the past couple of days, when I feel that I am tense, I consciously release the tension in my body and turn my palms toward God before I address a situation. I absolutely love this!

“The battle against temptation is a noble fight, but if we simply try to repress a desire, it will wear us out. We need to have a very clear picture of what kind of person we want to become, and why.”  

The Me I Want to Be

It is not enough to say, “I want to be a good Christian and not sin, so I won’t do this or that anymore.” We cannot grit our teeth and bully sin out of our lives. When we do this we end up weary and downtrodden and sin wins every time. Instead, why don’t we focus on who we want to be – rather, who we want to be in Christ – in the place of repressing what naturally tempts us. Pressing into God rather repressing Satan’s temptation.



It was tough to choose just a select few, but these struck a chord in me and led me to deep reflection. I hope they piqued your interest and you pick up these gems soon.

Learning how much people are impacted when we make the choice to love irrationally and learning about how God specifically created each one of us make both of these well worth the read!