I'd Like You More If You Were More Like Me: A Review

John Ortberg, a best-selling author has just released this book which I just finished reading this week.

For most people, the idea of having an intimate relationship with God is hard to grasp.

Relationships are tricky enough to pull off with a real, live, flesh-and-blood person. How are we supposed to forge an intimate relationship with a spiritual being we can’t even see? Especially one who is so utterly and completely different from us?

What if…

God isn’t so different from us after all?

…could we share our experiences with God the same way we share our experiences with each other?

…could we appreciate or begin to appreciate God actually uses our relationships with other people to teach us how to love him?

…could we, the more we pursue intimacy with each other, begin to see and understand God’s incredible audacious love for us?

…could we begin to see or appreciate the fact intimacy with God isn’t something we do, but something we receive?

What if God is closer than you thought; would we be more prone to have a more intimate relationship with Him once we acknowledge this?

The author suggests in the book the answer to be in the affirmative.

The author talks about what we need to have a place at the table. To have our own place at the table means we belong. We have an identity. We’re somebody’s sibling, somebody’s parent, somebody’s spouse. We’re in.

A table is a reminder that what really matters in life is relationships. We are hardwired for emotional connection to other people. We want to be known. We crave being loved. We want to be accepted by someone who is completely aware of our gifts and our flaws and yet wants to be with us anyway. In short we crave intimacy.

This book is about relationships with people and with God, both are important.

The book is available at bookstores but you can also order it on Amazon.com and other on line venues including www.Tyndale.com ISBN:  978-1-4143-7902-9