Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I want to Be

We can’t follow God if we don’t trust that He really has our best interest at heart. There is a big difference between following rules and following Him because we can follow rules without cultivating the right heart.  We will find ourselves unmotivated to pursue spiritual growth if we think God’s aim is to produce rule-followers. Then spiritual growth would end up being an obligation rather than a desire of our heart.

Jesus did not say that He came that we might follow the rules. He said that He came so we might have life with abundance. God designed us to flourish and wants us to grow and have full life. If we give up on our growth and life’s purpose, we lose hope and meaning and have an inner deadness. Jesus wants us to receive power from God and to be spiritually alive and fruitful.  If we fail to become the person God designed for us to be, others will miss out on the gift we were made to give.  St. Irenaeus wrote, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” No matter how much we have messed up our life, He is always waiting for us making the next step possible.
A few ways the author suggests that God gives life and vitality to us: nature, spiritual friendships, worship, solitude, serving, study, art, scripture, recreation, laughter, retreat, small groups, family, exercise, leading, celebration, etc.