Ortberg John Quotes & Sayings

Bitterness is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die. — John Ortberg Jr.

A pastor struggled for years with sexual addiction, eventually becoming so despondent that hospitalized himself. He joined an inpatient group and was mostly silent as others shared.
When he decided not to come one day, the leader found he had fallen back into his addiction the previous night. Against every fiber of his instinct, he came back to the group. He shared how much he despised himself and his hypocritical behavior.
When he saw that others wept for him, the weight of the secret that piled on the shame was broken. As Ortberg puts it, the man was able to taste the grace he taught about. — John Ortberg Jr.

Amusement is a way of boredom-avoidance through external stimulation that fails to exercise our minds. It's mere diversion. — John Ortberg

I am the God of the universe, maker of heaven and earth. I designed your body, I fashioned your world, I created your potential. I have wisdom and guidance and love that I long to communicate to you but I can't get through. Your heart and life are too noisy, and I will not scream. I love you. But you need a button for — John Ortberg

You don't know how many people have been strengthened because you asked God to encourage them; how many people have been healed because you prayed for their bodies; how many spiritual runaways have come home because you prayed for their souls. None of us may ever know the true effects of our prayers this side of death. But we do know this: History belongs to the intercessors. — John Ortberg

The church is in the hope business. We, of all people, ought to be known most for our hope because our hope is founded on something deeper than human ability or wishful thinking. — John Ortberg

Jesus is mysterious not just because of what we don't know about him, but because of what we do know about him. — John Ortberg

Significance is about who we are before it is about what we do. — John Ortberg

The paradox of soul-satisfaction is this: When I die to myself, my soul comes alive. God says the wrong approach to soul thirst is through human achievement and material wealth. So soul-satisfaction is not about acquiring the right things but about acquiring the right soul. It is not something you buy, but something you receive freely from God. Hear these great words of the prophet Isaiah: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and [your soul] will delight in the richest of fare." And it will be satisfied. — John Ortberg

I need an inspiration that is grounded in reality while thoroughly transcendent. — John Ortberg

as Aristotle said, "The soul never thinks without a picture. — John Ortberg

The greatest bloodbaths in the history of the human race were recorded in the twentieth century in countries that sought to eliminate God, worship, and faith. — John Ortberg

The problem with spending your life climbing up the ladder is that you will go right past Jesus, for he's coming down. — John Ortberg

This much I have learned: human beings come with very different sets of wiring, different interests, different temperaments, different learning styles, different gifts, different temptations. These differences are tremendously important in the spiritual formation of human beings. — John Ortberg

As a preacher, my charge is to proclaim the message of the Scriptures. To help the people in my congregation become a people of the book. I love getting to do this. — John Ortberg

Who you become while you're waiting is as important as what you're waiting for. — John Ortberg

It only makes sense to ask God for guidance in the context of a life committed to "seeking first the kingdom." — John Ortberg

Jesus is why women have traveled continents, spent decades learning a strange language so they could translate the Gospel, planting churches, caring for the sick, educating the illiterate, and marching for the oppressed. — John Ortberg

Acceptance is an act of the heart. To accept someone is to affirm to them that you think it's a very good thing they are alive. — John Ortberg

We are tempted to live under the illusion that somewhere out there are people who are normal. — John Ortberg

Brilliant intellects do not matriculate to study under someone dumber than themselves. Paul recognized Jesus as master of the intellect, above him in every way. — John Ortberg

Sometimes we do not realize how much we have to be grateful for until it is threatened. — John Ortberg

The life of Abraham Lincoln is by most accounts an amazing study in character formation. Yet he was notoriously disorganized; he even had a file in his law office labeled If you can't find it anywhere else, try looking here. — John Ortberg

Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be. — John Ortberg

Flourishing is not measured by outward signs such as income, possessions, or attractiveness. It means becoming the person he he had in mind in creating you. Flourishing means moving toward God's best version of you. — John Ortberg

Work is a form of love. We cannot be fully human without creating value. — John Ortberg

The church is in the hope business. — John Ortberg

The child in Bethlehem would grow up to be a friend of sinners, not a friend of Rome. He would spend his life with the ordinary and the unimpressive. He would pay deep attention to lepers and cripples, to the blind and the beggar, to prostitutes and fishermen, to women and children. He would announce the availability of a kingdom different from Herod's, a kingdom where blessing - of full value and worth with God - was now conferred on the poor in spirit and the meek and the persecuted. — John Ortberg

The "with God" life is not a life of more religious activities or devotions or trying to be good. It is a life of inner peace and contentment for your soul with the maker and manager of the universe. The "without God" life is the opposite. It is death. It will kill your soul. — John Ortberg

When it comes to sermon writing, generally there are two problems. Some preachers love the research stage but hate the writing, and they start writing too late. Others don't like doing research, so they move way too fast to the writing part. — John Ortberg

deliberately look for God in the ordinary moments of everyday life. — John Ortberg

The primary goal of spiritual life is human transformation. — John Ortberg

Disciplined people can do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason. — John Ortberg

The irony is that 'looking down on everybody else' is a violation of the law of love, which, according to Jesus, is the absolute essence of righteousness. — John Ortberg

Prayer, meditation, and confession actually have the power to rewire the brain in a way that can make us less self-referential and more aware of how God sees us. But these impediments to sin may not come easily. — John Ortberg

To become grateful, I must learn that I can handle disappointment and delayed gratification with grace and perseverance. This is why practices such as fasting and simplicity are such powerful tools for transformation. The experience of frustration and disappointment is irreplaceable in the development of a grateful heart. — John Ortberg

The New Testament doesn't present Jesus as a single man to cover up his humanity. It presents him as a single man because ... he was a single man. — John Ortberg

As long as we have unsolved problems, unfulfilled desires, and a mustard seed of faith, we have all we need for a vibrant prayer life. — John Ortberg

Learning something new is a fabulous way to be refreshed. When work can grind you down, something about learning a new activity thrills the soul. It reminds you that the world is bigger than your desk and your to-do list. — John Ortberg

Jesus' life as a foot-washing servant would eventually lead to the adoption of humility as a widely admired virtue. — John Ortberg

The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God.
Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God's constant presence with 'the real me.' Jesus lived his everyday life in conscious awareness of his Father. — John Ortberg Jr.

Growth is the ability to handle larger and more interesting problems. — John Ortberg

We will always take the most care of that which we value most deeply. — John Ortberg

The world conspires against our souls by blinding us to the depth and glory of their God-given design and tempting us to be satisfied with immediate gratification. — John Ortberg

A soul centered in God always knows it has a heavenly Father who will hold its pain, its fear, its anxiety. — John Ortberg

Real spiritual authority has to do with the truth of the actual words being spoken, and the spirit of the person behind the words. Really, authority is about truth: honest-living truth. — John Ortberg

Joyful people make us come alive. — John Ortberg

When God calls people to do something, their initial response is almost always fear. If there is a challenge in front of you, a course of action that could cause you to grow and that would be helpful to people around you, but you find yourself scared about it, there's a real good chance that God is in that challenge. — John Ortberg Jr.

main job is to remain connected to God. When my primary focus is being present with him, everything else has a way of falling into place. When my primary focus becomes anything else, my inner vitality suffers, and I become a lesser version of myself. On vacation one summer, — John Ortberg

As a preacher who is fully human, and clearly not divine, I can't speak as Jesus did. But I do seek to speak truth that carries weight and authority. All of us who preach the gospel aspire to speak under the authority of Jesus. — John Ortberg

Politics, after all, is largely about power. And power goes to the core of our issues of control and narcissism and need to be right and tendency to divide the human race into 'us' vs. 'them.' — John Ortberg

Jesus was often busy, but never hurried. — John Ortberg

A boss who interrupts an employee a lot is called an extrovert, whereas an employee who interrupts a boss too often is called an ex-employee. — John Ortberg

Thomas Kelly wrote, We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them all. And we are unhappy, uneasy, strained, oppressed, and fearful we shall be shallow ... We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that Center! ... We have seen and known some people who have found this deep Center of living, where the fretful calls of life are integrated, where No as well as Yes can be said with confidence. — John Ortberg

I am struck by how quickly I am prone to judgmentalism. — John Ortberg

'Who Is This Man?' is about the impact of Jesus on human history. Most people - including most Christians - simply have no idea of the extent to which we live in a Jesus-impacted world. — John Ortberg

People who live with largeness of soul are occupied by large problems. — John Ortberg

Prudence is not the same thing as caution. Caution is a helpful strategy when you're crossing a minefield; it's a disaster when you're in a gold rush. — John Ortberg

My wife is one of the most extroverted people I know. She could out-talk Oprah and Joyce Meyer simultaneously. — John Ortberg

Training is essential for almost any significant endeavor in life - running a marathon, becoming a surgeon, learning how to play the piano. — John Ortberg

Our soul begins to grow in God when we acknowledge our basic neediness. — John Ortberg

The Holy Spirit will lead you to be with people as Jesus would be with them if He were in your place. — John Ortberg

Here's some soul homework, by way of Dallas Willard: If you want to really experience the flow of love as never before, the next time you are in a competitive situation [around work or relationship or whose kids are the highest achieving or looks or whatever], pray that the others around you will be more outstanding, more praised, and more used of God than yourself. Really pull for them and rejoice in their success. If Christians were universally to do this for each other, the earth would soon be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. — John Ortberg

Imagine watching all that God might have done with your life if you had let him. — John Ortberg

Grace always and only consists of what will help someone come home to the Father. — John Ortberg

God has entrusted us with his most precious treasure - people. He asks us to shepherd and mold them into strong disciples, with brave faith and good character. — John Ortberg

What makes a man's 80 year-old Irish uncle skip like a little boy? Me Father is very fond of me! — John Ortberg Jr.

This is precisely why when somebody asked Jesus once, "What is the most important of all the commandments?" he answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." It is not coincidental that all the parts of the person we have been talking about are here in the most important commandment. Your heart (that is, your will, your choices), your mind (all your thoughts and desires), your strength (all of your body), and your soul are all to be bound together and focused on love of God, and then the love of all that flows out of this. — John Ortberg

There are usually multiple messages that could be preached from the same text. — John Ortberg

Sloth is the failure to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done - like the kamikaze pilot who flew seventeen missions. — John Ortberg

Many Christians expend so much energy and worry trying not to sin. The goal is not to try to sin less. In all your efforts to keep from sinning, what are you focusing on? Sin. God wants you to focus on him. To be with him. "Abide in me." Just relax and learn to enjoy his presence. Every day is a collection of moments, 86,400 seconds in a day. How many of them can you live with God? Start where you are and grow from there. God wants to be with you every moment. — John Ortberg

At the heart of Christian faith is the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. — John Ortberg

sacred pathways Naturalist - finds God in nature Ascetic - is drawn to disciplines Traditionalist - loves historical liturgies Activist - comes alive spiritually in a great cause Caregiver - meets God in serving Sensate - senses God through five senses Enthusiast - loves to grow through people Contemplative - is drawn to solitary reflection and prayer Intellectual - loves God by learning (For more information on these categories, read — John Ortberg

The ministry of bearing with one another is learning to hear God speak through difficult people. — John Ortberg

Sin is not just the wrong stuff we do; it's the good we don't do. It's the starving children we don't want to look at, the volunteering we avoid, the poor we don't want to serve, and the money we don't want to give. — John Ortberg

Brother Lawrence called this "practicing the presence" of God, and the most important part of that practice lay in "renouncing, once and for all, whatever does not lead to God. — John Ortberg

The only true and lasting inspiration for life is genuine love for God, and submitted gratitude that I get to be a part of the redemptive quest. — John Ortberg

Love of learning led to monasteries, which became the cradle of academic guilds. — John Ortberg

To love someone is to desire and work toward their becoming the best version of themselves. The one person in all the universe who can do this perfectly for you is God. — John Ortberg Jr.

True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace. — John Ortberg

The soul integrates the will and mind and body. Sin disintegrates them. In sin, my appetite for lust or anger or superiority dominates my will. My will, which was made to rule my body, becomes enslaved to what my body wants. When I flatter other people, I learn to use my mouth and my face to conceal my true thoughts and intentions. This always requires energy: I am disintegrating my body from my mind. I hate, but I can't admit it even to myself, so I must distort my perception of reality to rationalize my hatred: I disintegrate my thoughts from the reality. Sin ultimately makes long-term gratitude or friendship or meaning impossible. Sin eventually destroys my capacity even for enjoyment, let alone meaning. It distorts my perceptions, alienates my relationships, inflames my desires, and enslaves my will. This is what it means to lose your soul. — John Ortberg

eschatological thinking. — John Ortberg Jr.

I am so wrapped up in the hurt I have received that I do not notice the hurt I inflict. — John Ortberg

The soul seeks God with its whole being. Because it is desperate to be whole, the soul is God-smitten and God-crazy and God-obsessed. My mind may be obsessed with idols; my will may be enslaved to habits; my body may be consumed with appetites. But my soul will never find rest until it rests in God. — John Ortberg

People who are servants-humbly, honestly, and joyfully-keep getting revealed as the biggest winners. People who recognize and embrace their smallness keep getting bigger and bigger in God's eyes. It's the oddest scoring system. — John Ortberg

One of the great illusions of our time is that hurrying will buy us more time. — John Ortberg

God has decided, for his own good reasons, that people are not transformed outside of community. — John Ortberg

There is a me I cannot see. — John Ortberg

Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence, indecision, or safety. — John Ortberg

For much of our lives, we live in the shallows. Then something happens - a crisis, a birth, a death - and we get this glimpse of tremendous depth. My soul becomes shallow when my interests and thoughts go no further than myself. A person should be deep because life itself is deep. — John Ortberg

True confession is not just an exchange of information; it also involves entering into the pain of the person we have hurt and entering into God's pain over sin. — John Ortberg

Once you're a little bit to the side, God can come to the center. — John Ortberg

Your Mission starts where you are,
Not where you think you should be.
Sometimes we're tempted to think that our current position/job/situation is a barrier to our mission, but, in fact, it is where it starts. — John Ortberg

Gratitude is what we radiate when we experience grace, and the soul was made to run on grace the way a 747 runs on rocket fuel. — John Ortberg

Repenting is a gift God gives us for our own sake, not his. — John Ortberg

gratification of mind and body will actually dismantle your soul. — John Ortberg

Sin is protean. It is a cancer that keeps mutating, and just when you think you have killed off one form, it turns out a deadlier strain yet is threatening your heart. — John Ortberg

Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous. It is more like haggling in an oriental bazaar than the polite monologues of the churches. — John Ortberg Jr.

Having faith does not mean never having doubts or questions. It does mean remaining obedient. — John Ortberg

Some leaders are not intimidated by opposition; they actually thrive on it. It wakes them up. It energizes them. It calls them to battle. It causes them to mobilize their thoughts and energy. — John Ortberg