Comments on Chapters 11-14
from John Ortberg's The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You
1. Ortberg writes- "we pray more than we know" and then goes on to cite numerous examples of how this happens. He also quotes Richard Foster who says 'countless people have such a "stained glass image" of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying.'" (chapter 11)
Respond to these thoughts or other thoughts from chapter 11 that struck you.
(I can personally relate to the idea of praying a lot without the stereotypical "fold your hands, bow your head type praying". Much prayer that I do I become conscious of in retrospect- "yes, when I was thinking about "this or that" I was indeed praying.")
2. Is the image of the brook trout helpful for you-- see fly, want fly, eat fly (result- enslaved)? Ortberg says "temptation promises freedom but really makes us a slave. (chapter 12)
3. "If I walk down this road, where will it lead in the long run- toward or away from the me I want to be? Would this be a helfpul question for you to ask? Would it make a difference? Or is more helpful to ask- "if I do this will the 'idiot lights' on my spiritual dashboard go off (see p.141) (chapter 12)
4. Chapter 13 states "tell me your gifts and I'll tell you your sins" . It then lifts up the Enneagram tool which helps define 9 patterns in people which one will naturally describe us "better than others." Within each pattern is a strength but also a possible weakness within that pattern. The 9 patterns are:
Reformer, Server, Achiever, Artist, Thinker, Loyalist, Enthusiast, Commander, Peacemaker
As I read it, I was drawn to the description of achiever which seems to me how I am wired. I read the description of the blessings as well as the blind spots and it seems to fit so well. How about you? Which pattern seems to fit? Does the blind spots make sense as well?
5. When we find ourself out of the flow (chapter 14), Ortberg reminds us the the bible often uses the metaphor of "putting on clothing". At same time, he reminds us that we have to "take off" other things. In this chapter, one of the things he suggest we take off is "RAGS" which stands for
RESENTMENT
ANXIETY
GREED
SUPERIORITY
Obviously, we need to focus on taking off all those things. Which part of the RAGS acronymn is harder for you to "take off"?
6. Has anyone taken the MONVEE free online assesment that comes with the book? What did you learn from that experience?
NOTE- I know that some have felt uncomfortable posting. Feel free to comment anonymously if you wish or if you'd rather make comments to me via email, send them to pastordave@goserve.net. Realize that all feedback you provide helps teach me how to do things better in the future. I appreciate you being involved and reading book with me.
