Become New with John Ortberg

Why do AA meetings sometimes feel like the safest place to tell the truth? And what could the church learn from that kind of honesty, acceptance, and shared dependence on God?
In this episode, John Ortberg explores how the 12 Steps can help us approach spiritual growth, stubborn habits, and the struggles we keep trying to overcome alone. Whether you’re wrestling with anger, fear, control, greed, or the familiar gap between who you want to be and how you actually live, the invitation begins with honesty. You don’t have to pretend you’re doing better than you are to take a step toward freedom.
Drawing on Paul’s struggle in Romans 7, Jesus’ promise of freedom, and the story of AA cofounder Bill W., John traces connections between the 12 Steps and the Christian practices of surrender, confession, making amends, prayer, and service. He invites us into a community where people can name their need, receive help, and participate in the work God is doing. Sometimes the place where we admit we’re stuck becomes the place where change begins.
In this conversation, you’ll discover:
What the church can learn from the honesty and acceptance of recovery communities.
Why knowing what’s right doesn’t always give us the power to do it.
How surrender to Jesus opens a path toward freedom.
Why friendship and community matter when we’re trying to change.
How the 12 Steps can become practices for everyday spiritual growth.
Take your next step: Name one place where you feel stuck, and share it with someone you trust. You don’t have to walk this journey alone.
Explore the free, 12-part Steps Masterclass with John Ortberg:
https://stepsguide.com
Find more teaching and daily practices from Become New:
https://becomenew.com
Subscribe for more conversations about following Jesus, spiritual formation, and becoming the person God made you to be.
#JohnOrtberg #SpiritualGrowth #12Steps

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Music Credits:
Quince Kitchen by Rore (pizzicato theme)
License#: MB01WXJ6PNCW2IV
Alaska by Sarah Watson 
 License#: MB01KOIGMJPRZHD

Welcome to the World by Sarah Watson
License# MB01XUUTGU633PL

0:00 What the Church Can Learn from AA
0:41 An Invitation to Practice the 12 Steps
1:30 Why We Need Each Other to Change
2:19 Why Do I Keep Doing What I Don’t Want to Do?
3:32 The Gap Between Who We Are and Who We Want to Be
3:54 How Jesus Helps Stuck People
4:57 Jesus’ Promise of Freedom
5:31 Bill W. and the Beginnings of AA
6:17 The Oxford Group and Practices of Transformation
7:24 Could the 12 Steps Help You, Too?
8:13 The Church Needs These Practices Back
9:15 An Invitation to an Honest Journey
9:43 Explore the Free Steps Masterclass
10:07 About Become New

Can you have peace while the situation you’re facing is still unresolved? During one of the darkest periods of his life, John Ortberg found himself awake early in the morning, needing something solid to hold onto. A passage from Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart helped him consider what peace might mean when circumstances remain frightening.

John explores the exhausting work of trying to control outcomes that are no longer in our hands. Picture someone bowling: the ball has been released, yet their whole body keeps leaning and twisting as though they can still steer it. We often do something similar with the people and concerns we care about most.

Through Willard’s writing, a funny poem about an overthinking centipede, and Sidney Lanier’s image of building a nest on the greatness of God, John invites us to notice where worry has reached even our bodies. Peace does not require us to stop caring. It invites us to bring what we care about to God and release the burden of controlling how everything turns out.

What outcome are you still trying to steer after the ball has left your hands?

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Music Credits:
Welcome to the World by Sarah Watson
License# MB01XUUTGU633PL

What do you say to yourself when you make a mistake? For many of us, one wrong answer, awkward conversation, or disappointing performance can turn into a harsh verdict about who we are. John Ortberg offers a different response, borrowed from conductor Benjamin Zander: “How fascinating!”

Through stories about music, tutoring, Eugene Peterson, and the disciple Peter, John explores how a growth mindset helps us approach mistakes with curiosity and a willingness to learn. Instead of constantly asking, “How do I look?” we can begin asking, “What can I learn?” That shift changes how we respond to challenges, setbacks, criticism, and other people’s success.

At the heart of this teaching is Romans 8:1: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When your worth is secure, you have room to develop your abilities, receive feedback, and try again. Discover a practical way to interrupt self-condemnation, grow through your mistakes, and extend that same grace to others.

Try this today: When you make a mistake, pause and say, “How fascinating!” Then ask what you can learn and what your next faithful step might be.

Find more teaching and daily practices at Become New.

Subscribe for more from John Ortberg on following Jesus and growing with God in everyday life.

#JohnOrtberg #GrowthMindset #SpiritualGrowth

🙌 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.
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Music Credits:
Welcome to the World by Sarah Watson
License# MB01XUUTGU633PL

0:00 What to Say When You Make a Mistake
0:18 Benjamin Zander and the Nervous Cellist
1:02 “How Fascinating!”
1:34 Living Without Condemnation
2:31 Mistakes and the Learning Zone
3:18 A Disciple Is a Learner
3:39 Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
4:49 “How Do I Look?” vs. “What Can I Learn?”
5:55 Your Worth Is Already Established
6:48 Responding to Challenges, Setbacks, and Criticism
7:55 Eugene Peterson’s Rejected Manuscript
8:46 What Peter’s Mistakes Can Teach Us
9:25 Your Practice for Today

Why does God sometimes make us wait for something we’ve asked him for again and again? Jesus tells us to keep praying, asking, seeking, and knocking. Yet the silence can be difficult to understand, especially when someone we love needs help.

John Ortberg explores that tension through Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. She comes to him pleading for her daughter, and at first Jesus says nothing. Drawing on New Testament scholar Kenneth Bailey, John considers how this encounter may also expose what Jesus’ disciples think about the woman and whether they will recognize her need. She keeps asking, and Jesus ultimately praises her faith and heals her daughter.

John does not claim to explain every delay in prayer. He offers one question we can bring into the waiting: “God, is there a way you want me to respond?” Prayer can include honest persistence, listening, and a small step of love that is ours to take today.

Scripture: Matthew 15:21–28; Luke 18:1–8; Matthew 7:7–11; Luke 22:31–32

🙌 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.
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Music Credits:
Welcome to the World by Sarah Watson
License# MB01XUUTGU633PL

Can you lead with authority and still be genuinely vulnerable? Many of us treat those qualities as opposites. If we want to be strong, we assume we need to protect ourselves from being hurt. But in this conversation with Alan George, John Ortberg offers another picture of leadership.
Drawing on Andy Crouch’s Strong and Weak, John explains that authority and vulnerability are two distinct qualities. Jesus held both. He acted with authority and willingly opened himself to pain for the sake of love. John and Alan explore the temptation to avoid that kind of openness, including the subtle habit of sharing stories that sound vulnerable while keeping what matters hidden.
The conversation then turns toward genuine change. Why can we know what we’re supposed to do and still struggle to become different people? John reflects on Dallas Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines and the honesty found in recovery communities: admitting our need can open us to help we could never manufacture for ourselves.
Where might you be protecting an image of strength? And what could become possible if you brought that part of your life into the light?

🙌 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 51504
EMAIL US at [email protected]

GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe
GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text NEW to 51504
SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team
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Music Credits:
Welcome to the World by Sarah Watson
License# MB01XUUTGU633PL