Summary
The book The life you’ve always wanted: The spiritual disciplines for ordinary people was written by John Ortberg and published by Zondervan in 2002. The main topic is the personal transformation in the spiritual terms which only a person willing to make a spiritual progress is capable of. The book opens with the description of personal failure and a willingness to improve oneself by becoming a better person. Ortberg discusses the term morphoo and explains that it is “the inward and real formation of the essential nature of a person” (Ortberg, 2002, p. 23). Morphing means becoming a better person and Christ-like while enjoying this spiritual path at the same time.
The humanity as a whole needs to embark on the journey of becoming progressive in a spiritual way. The point lies in redemption because the humanity needs to be united: “It is about the glorious redemption of human life – your life” (Ortberg, 2002, p. 29). This redemption is glorious because it shapes humanity into a new form of existence because of the fact that people are prone to failure. When they make effort to succeed in living a Christ-like life, it is the beginning of victory because the holy life has to be maintained for the success to be complete. People need to go through a complete transformation and to change essentially. The help of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the transformation to be the right one. People are not supposed to dwell on false and incomplete transformation and they need to invite God into their lives.
God is supposed to lead the way into the righteous and moral life and it is crucial for people to listen to God’s advice and to live by them. There is the possibility of denying oneself of one’s own personality and accepting Jesus and the possibility of becoming Christ-like while arranging one’s affairs in that direction. Self-denial is an important issue according to the Holy Scripture and it means embracing God in the most meaningful way possible. There is also a relationship between extreme suffering and joy which it brings because it makes people closer to being divine. Sin has to be removed from a person’s life because it corrupts people and minds have to be shaped in such a way that sins do not seem appealing.
When a person becomes holy, the Devil will not stay in their vicinity anymore because it is easy for this person to resist temptation. People need not hurry in life because that is devil-like behavior as it is important to take time and enjoy the prayers and fulfilling the activities related to worshipping God. People today lead hectic lifestyles and have to raise their families at the same time. However, solitude is important for one’s personal goal to be fulfilled and it is related to finding God in oneself. Being a servant is also important because serving God means being able to deny one’s self. It is crucial not to feel vain and pride because a person is not self-sufficient. “We need angels to remind us that we are not the messiah. We’re not even Pope” (Ortberg, 2002, p. 85). People cannot replace God and they need to use their spirituality for the purpose of being guided through it.
Concrete responses
I have always been a vain person like many people are, especially when they are young and I have been affected by consumerism and the materialistic society. Being unable to purchase an object made me feel useless and less worthy than those who could afford it. I resented not being able to travel as much as possible because people need money to be able to make any kind of change in their lives.
This book made me realize that what I need in life is internal peace and spirituality and that none of these can be bought. Money is irrelevant in the world because it really cannot make a person really rich in the terms that matter. Everybody can make an impact in the world and people only have to learn how to think instead of wanting to become rich and being desperate because they cannot achieve this goal. I remember my best friend saying: “You have to work on the process of individuation and turn to your spiritual side to make life worth living”. She was right and thins book made me think about spirituality and about the holy part of being human which is related to the soul.
Anybody can become rich and lose all the wealth in a second, but it takes much effort to become spiritually rich. When I realized this I stopped looking at advertisement in a way that I did before because I understood that I do not need to have the latest model of a cell phone or expensive designer clothes. The materialistic world which promotes shopping is not the world I belong to and I have chosen to follow the spiritual guide.
Reflection
What bothers me about this book is the fact that it raised doubts about the ways to achieve spiritual perfection. There is one way to spirituality which means that a person should deny themselves and accept the life path lead by Christ. The other way does not include the denial of one’s own personality although it involves following Christ’s example and making self-sacrifices in life. There is also mysticism involved in Ortberg’s book and this can be dangerous for the people who take it seriously.
The spiritual world is infinite unlike the materialistic world and people should not look for answers in mysticism because the answer is in Jesus Christ who is the role model and whose life path should be followed. People need to have faith and to say prayers, to accept solitude from time to time, to make sacrifices in life in order to redeem their souls, to suffer, to make confessions and to lead a Christ-like life in order to be able to become a real Christian.
I wonder to what extent can people, who are not monks follow the life path guided by the Holy Spirit in the modern world. There are temptations all around people and they need to give great resistance in order to be worthy of being called Christians. It is the matter of renouncing earthly pleasure and making personal sacrifices. A person is not supposed to strive for leading a life which is too idealistic because that kind of life exists only in heaven. Moreover, people live in the materialistic world and need to make a compromise between the two worlds.
Application
I plan to become a better Christian by adopting measures which will help me achieve my goal. Saying daily prayers are the best way to begin showing respect for God. Making a confession from time to time is also a crucial part of being a spiritual person. I will also embrace my solitude and take pleasure from thinking about religion and memorizing parts of the Holy Scripture because it can help me become more productive in my everyday life. It is important to slow down and become engaged in what really matters instead of working all the time for other people and trying to earn as much as possible in the capitalist society.
I am a religious person and I plan to visit my church more often and to engage in any activities that it organized especially those related to charity. Christianity is about helping less fortunate people find themselves in the hectic lifestyle no matter of their wealth. Sometimes the richest people are the most misfortunate because all they have is material wealth and they need to be shown the right path in life. The church always looks for various ways to make the religious teachings matter in real life because they are meant to make life more meaningful. I would like to be a part of the change in the world which is going to make a spiritual impact. People need to be encouraged to embrace their own spirituality so that they would be empowered to take actions in life. Inspiration and motivation come from being self-assured and success can only be accomplished if a person relies on spirituality and not on materialism.
References
Ortberg, J. (2002). The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
