Become New with John Ortberg

Become New
  • 4.8 (353)
  • SPIRITUALITY
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Join John Ortberg each day for 10 minutes of spiritual guidance on the person we are becoming.

  1. 32. We've Been Listening Wrong

    2H AGO

    32. We've Been Listening Wrong

    What if the key to overcoming condemnation isn’t arguing better — but listening better? In this episode, John explores Jesus’ surprising instruction in Luke 8:18: “Consider carefully how you listen.” Through the parable of the sower, Jesus explains that the condition of our hearts determines whether the words we hear bring growth or simply bounce off. John shares a recent moment when he caught himself listening critically instead of humbly — and how a simple shift changed everything. You’ll learn: - why we often listen in order to judge - the three unhealthy ways we listen - what Jesus means by a “good and noble heart” - how humble listening opens the door to growth - why listening well makes condemnation harder When we begin to listen with humility — asking what God might want to show us — conversations change. And so do we. Because there is now no condemnation. 📚 Today's Resources: Deborah Tannen, You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation  Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet & Peasant: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke  🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    11 min
  2. 31. Becoming a Person of Blessing

    1D AGO

    31. Becoming a Person of Blessing

    The opposite of condemnation isn’t just restraint...it’s blessing. In this episode, John Ortberg explores how Jesus calls us to become people who actively bless others — even those who curse us. Drawing from Scripture and insights from The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent, John walks through five powerful ways to bless others: meaningful words, honoring value, appropriate touch, envisioning a future, and showing up with presence. Blessing doesn’t just change others — it changes us. Because when we bless, we live the life Jesus envisioned. There is now… therefore… no condemnation. 📚 Today's Resources: Gary Smalley & John Trent, Ph.D., The Blessing  🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    12 min
  3. 30. Can you be a good person and condemn others?

    2D AGO

    30. Can you be a good person and condemn others?

    Why does condemnation feel like it’s everywhere today? In this episode, John Ortberg explores a cultural shift: we no longer define a “good person” by love and character, but by holding the “right” opinions. The result? More judgment, more division, and less humility. Jesus offered a different path — a life marked by compassion, forgiveness, and what Kierkegaard called “blithe humility.” Like the birds and lilies, we can release the burden of controlling the world and trust God with it. The result is freedom, joy, and a life without condemnation. 📚 Today's Resources: Søren Kierkegaard, The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air Grace Hamman, Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life  Doug Teschner et al., Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times 🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    15 min
  4. 29. The Virtue of Self Knowledge (w/Dr. Jim Taylor)

    5D AGO

    29. The Virtue of Self Knowledge (w/Dr. Jim Taylor)

    Sign up here to receive the Formation Newsletter: https://becomenew.com/formation/ What if the antidote to condemnation isn’t trying harder to be nice… but learning to know yourself? In this conversation, John Ortberg talks with philosopher Jim Taylor about intellectual virtue — qualities like humility, courage, and self-knowledge that help us pursue truth and love people well. Jesus warned against condemning judgment, but he also invited us to remove the log in our own eye. The path forward begins with honest self-examination and a simple prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Because when we grow in self-knowledge, condemnation loses its grip. 📚 Today's Resources: The Blessing — Gary Smalley & John Trent The Lost Art of Listening — Michael Nichols (with Martha Straus) 🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    14 min
  5. 28. The Six Types of Condemnation

    6D AGO

    28. The Six Types of Condemnation

    You don’t condemn people… right? Let me stop you right there. In this episode, John Ortberg walks through six surprisingly common styles of condemnation — from the obvious (aggressive anger) to the subtle (silence, sarcasm, perfectionism, conditional acceptance, even martyrdom). We all judge.  We all distance.  We all find creative ways to say, “I’m above you.” Drawing on Scripture, psychology, and real-life examples (including the “Pan Am smile” and the devastating power of ridicule), John helps us name our default style — and invites the Holy Spirit to gently interrupt it. Because condemnation doesn’t just hurt others.  It corrodes us. And the freedom we’re after this Lent is simple and radical: Let me stop you right there. There is now… therefore… no condemnation. 📚 Today's Resources: Paul Tournier, Guilt and Grace: A Psychological Study Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve  🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    15 min
  6. 27. The Law of Reciprocal Condemnation

    MAR 4

    27. The Law of Reciprocal Condemnation

    There is now no condemnation...but if we’re honest, sometimes condemnation feels effective. In this episode, John Ortberg explores what Dallas Willard called the law of reciprocal condemnation — the almost unbreakable cycle where judgment breeds counter-judgment, attack breeds counter-attack, and anger multiplies itself. It’s extremely rare, Willard observed, that anyone who is condemned responds by changing in the desired way. Instead, condemnation produces: - Counter-condemnation - Passive aggression - Perfectionism - Procrastination - Rebellion - Or quiet relational death Jesus warned about this in the Sermon on the Mount:“As you judge, so you will be judged.” Not as a threat from God — but as an observation about how relationships work. So how do we break the cycle? Paul gives a shocking alternative in Romans 12:Do not repay evil for evil.Leave room for God’s justice.Overcome evil with good. Justice is real.But it is not ours to manage. 📚 Today's Resources: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy  C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer  🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    13 min
  7. 26. The Benefits of Guilt and Shame

    MAR 3

    26. The Benefits of Guilt and Shame

    In this episode, John Ortberg offers what he calls “two cheers for guilt and shame.” Drawing from the book of Judges, John explores why justice matters, why moral reality is woven into the fabric of existence, and why a world without any sense of guilt or shame would not be more humane — it would be more dangerous. From the brutal story of Adoni-Bezek to the violent cycles of Judges, we see a profound truth emerge: no one ultimately gets away with injustice. As Jesus says in Luke 8:17, nothing hidden will remain hidden. John traces a major turning point in human history — what C.S. Lewis called the moral law — the moment when ancient Israel connected two ideas that had often been separated:There is one God.And that God is good. Justice is real. Accountability is real. And judgment, properly understood, is good news — especially for the oppressed. But here’s the deeper turn: - Guilt and shame can either crush us… or redeem us. - Healthy guilt points out where we have done wrong so we can confess and be cleansed. Healthy shame invites us out of hiding into relationship and grace. - And ultimately, Jesus steps into the story and absorbs the consequences we could not. - “The wages of sin is death.”The sin is ours.The death is his. - The cycle of Judges is broken at the cross. Justice is upheld. Mercy is given.And condemnation does not win. 📚 Today's Resources: Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World  C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man  Tomas Sedlacek, Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street   Sabrina B. Little, The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners  🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    13 min
  8. 25. Stop Condemning, Just Listen

    MAR 2

    25. Stop Condemning, Just Listen

    John Ortberg builds on a surprising Lenten invitation echoed even by the Pope: fast from harsh words. Disarm your language. Refuse contempt. John revisits what condemnation actually is — not discernment, not moral clarity — but a toxic mix of malice (ill will) and disgust (repulsion) toward another person. Then he offers one simple, powerful practice that makes condemnation nearly impossible while you’re doing it: Listen. Drawing from Scripture, including Acts 7 (where Stephen’s accusers literally cover their ears), and insights from The Lost Art of Listening by Michael Nichols and Martha Straus, John explores why we overestimate our listening ability — and why the higher our emotions run, the less we tend to listen. It turns out it’s very difficult to listen deeply and condemn someone at the same time. James writes, “Be quick to listen.” That might be the most subversive spiritual discipline of our time. Because curiosity softens judgment.Listening interrupts contempt.And blessing grows where condemnation used to live. There is now… therefore… no condemnation. 📚 Today's Resources: The Lost Art of Listening by Michael P. Nichols and Martha B. Straus Leo XIV, “Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion,” 13 Feb 2026 🙌 New episodes every weekday. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time. Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time. TEXT US at 855-888-0444 EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text BECOME to 855-888-0444 SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team 😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/ 🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/ Music Credits: Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0 Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO

    14 min
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4.8
out of 5
353 Ratings

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Join John Ortberg each day for 10 minutes of spiritual guidance on the person we are becoming.

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  • Creator
    Become New
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Become New with John Ortberg
  • Show Website
    Become New with John Ortberg

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