Am I becoming successful, or becoming good? John Ortberg explores how pride and the desire to be important can interfere with the person God wants us to become. Drawing on David Brooks’s The Road to Character and the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, John examines the “Big Me”: the tendency to put our accomplishments, reputation, and agenda at the center. He invites us to turn the mirror toward ourselves and notice when making an impression matters more than caring for people. Today’s pr...

How does humility make us wiser? John Ortberg explores the subtle ways pride affects our faith, relationships, and ability to see ourselves clearly. Drawing on Proverbs 11:2, Cornelius Plantinga, and C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, John distinguishes healthy satisfaction from excessive self-congratulation. He considers how insecurity can fuel self-promotion and how pride can sneak into even our attempts to become humble. John closes with a familiar song, “Jesus Loves Me,” and an invitat...

Is having a bad thought a sin? John Ortberg explores the difference between an unwanted thought, temptation, and the intention to do wrong. Drawing on Cornelius Plantinga’s Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be and insights from Dallas Willard, John begins with shalom: the biblical vision of life flourishing as God intended. He explains why sin matters, how pride damages that flourishing, and why the thoughts that occur to us are different from the choices we make about them. Through Romans 8:6, Co...

Is pride running your life in ways you don’t recognize? John Ortberg explores pride as an alignment problem: the gap between what we know is good and the desires that pull us in another direction. In this opening teaching focused on pride, John shares a story about his first car, a personal moment of defensiveness, and an unexpected lesson from a four-year-old singing a Rolling Stones song. Through 1 Peter 2:11 and the image of the Lord as our shepherd, he examines how approval, comfort, mon...

Why does telling yourself “Don’t do it” sometimes leave you stuck on the very thing you want to avoid? John Ortberg uses a golf analogy to explore the thoughts shaping our character and a simple way to invite God into everyday life. In episode six of Become New’s series on sin, the seven deadly sins, and grace, John traces the framework’s history through Peter Jones’s Self-Help from the Middle Ages. He considers sin as distorted love, Dante’s compassionate confrontation with human weakness, a...

John Ortberg challenges the quiet belief that our everyday choices don’t matter and explores how good intentions can give way when we feel pressured, insecure, or afraid. Drawing on Christian Miller’s The Character Gap and Langdon Gilkey’s Shantung Compound, John examines the difference between wanting to do good and developing a character that keeps choosing love under difficult circumstances. He shares the example of Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner depicted in Chariots of Fire, whose selfl...

Sin isn’t only about the wrong things we do. It’s also about the good we leave undone. John Ortberg explores the two kinds of sin, commission and omission, and the spiritual practices that help us address each. Drawing from Proverbs, James, and the teachings of Jesus, John explains how to strengthen your “don’t” and “do” muscles. He also introduces a surprising spiritual discipline: chatting. An ordinary conversation can become an opportunity to encourage, connect, and offer the right word at...

Why do we stretch the truth, even when we want to be honest? John Ortberg explores the insecurity, desire for approval, and self-protection that can drive our little lies, and how God helps us become truthful from the inside out. In episode three of Become New’s series on sin, the seven deadly sins, and grace, John shares a funny story from a pastors’ conference where church attendance became a measure of importance. Through Psalm 51, Colossians 3, and Peter’s promise to remain faithful to Je...

Do you really want the truth about yourself, or would you rather have it sugarcoated? John Ortberg explores why honest self-examination matters for spiritual growth and how knowing we are loved gives us the courage to face what needs to change. In episode two of Become New’s series on sin, the seven deadly sins, and grace, John draws on Dallas Willard, Peter Jones’s Self-Help from the Middle Ages, and a story about Wendell Berry as a demanding writing teacher. He considers Jesus’ hard words t...

Why do I keep doing what I don’t want to do? And beneath the problems with my job, finances, or circumstances, am I actually becoming a more loving person? In the opening episode of Become New’s series exploring sin, the seven deadly sins, and grace, John Ortberg starts with a funny parallel-parking encounter and a surprisingly important question: “What’s your problem?” Through Romans 7, John explores the difference between individual acts of wrongdoing and the deeper patterns within us that...