The Search For Significance: Seeing Your True Worth Through God's Eyes

This is a very helpful book. It has greatly aided in my transformation with Christ. I believe this is a must have for every Christian. May God bless you through your journey.

When I expressed my enthusiasm over Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee, a friend wondered why such an elementary topic was so important. After all, by this time I should know my value in the Lord. Well, I did and I do. Nevertheless, this book greatly enhanced my understanding and established a new level of freedom. McGee identifies four specific mindsets that keep people from knowing they are valuable to God, to themselves, and to other people: The Performance Trap deals with feeling a need to meet "certain standards" to experience fulfillment; Approval Addition tells us we need the approval of others "to feel good about" ourselves (a common reason for doing the "right" thing in my childhood home was "What will the neighbors think?"); The Blame Game refers to looking for "fault" and identifying the person or persons deserving punishment (and that someone could be us); Shame overwhelms through making one feel unable to change (which is a form of hopelessness). McGee deals with the problems in four individual chapters, all made abundantly clear through the use of illustrations or examples. Following or interspersed between them are chapters on God's antidote: for The Performance Trap, justification; for Approval, reconciliation; for the Blame Game, propitiation; and for Shame, regeneration. Put together, they cover God's plan of redemption. After finishing the book I wondered if the organization was a bit forced--after all, we need the fullness of redemption for any one of the problem areas. Yet it was an effective way to break up and maintain interest while looking at abstract theological concepts. My attention did not waver. Three concluding chapters deal with applying God's Truth. McGee emphasizes the importance of being set free from false beliefs. A chapter on the difference between conviction (revelation of sin that produces true guilt which points to Christ and forgiveness) and condemnation (false guilt that leads to separation from Christ and loss) was priceless. According to McGee, "[God's] conviction of believers is not intended to produce pangs of guilt. Our status and self-worth are secure by the grace of God... Conviction deals with our behavior, not our status before God. Conviction is the Holy Spirit's way of showing the error of our performance in light of God's standard and truth. His motivation is love, protection, and correction." Each chapter includes an excellent thought-provoking interactive section. In addition, the version of the book I purchased is completed by a rather lengthy workbook to use in conjunction with the text. Although I didn't work through it at the time, I did scan the material and decided it would be a good project down the road, perhaps something to study as part of a small group. One always benefits when reaffirming or strengthening a solid foundation.

This book has helped me understand my identity in and through Christ. It has also helped me become more aware of the lies that I have believed over time and the impact that those beliefs have had on me and the choices that I made. Everyone should read this book.

This book was recommended to me by my marriage counselor. But it’s not for marriage. It’s about finding out who you are and what you need and it really helps you discover how much we need God in our life for everything! It explains a lot about why we are the way we are and help us move forward learning to trust God! I did not expect to be glued to this book, I am not a big reader, but this book has opened my eyes! I also highly recommend the workbook

This book will prove helpful to any Christian ... valuable insights into how we are plagued in our human nature with wrong thinking as to where our significance and value come from and constantly sabotaging ourselves in daily living as a result ... the book is very conversational and not technical in presentation ... there are good charts and summaries along the way to re-enforce the concepts and to refer back to as needed ... the last 3 chapters alone were most beneficial in my opinion ... also the work book material in the second half of the book provides further emphasis and support for biblical thinking about our true value to a loving Father ... the real benefit is to get the reader to laser focus on the truth of what God says about us and to reject the internalized false beliefs we have embraced over time ... once we are able to truly accept and embrace the truth about significance and how God loves us, it will lead to peace, rest and confidence and release us from the constant performance/failure trap. This one lie sums up how most of us have lived much of our lives and it is a deadly poison: Self-worth = performance + others opinons of us ... the author presents the basic lies about significance, the results of embracing those, what God says, and then the results of embracing His truth ... this alone is most helpful ... If you have ever struggled in this area or know someone who does, this book should prove benficial. Recommended.

Awesome book!

This book has changed my life! Gods Holy Word confirmes Satan is the father of lies,& the author of confusion! This book plus the difficult questions in the back , have seriously helped me, reminded me of my True identity in Christ Jesus! There are SO MANY LIES you can tell yourself over the years! This book uses Gods HOLY and perfect Word to CONFIRM the Christians identity in Christ! It is extremely important to carefully and slowly go through the questions in the back.It’s Very important to be Very honest with yourself!

Different perspective has brought such insight and hope for peace. I recommend every Christian read and reread this book. You will grow.

Over many years I have run a course using this book for a good number of people - some of them with big issues. I don't just teach with it, I go through the steps with those on the course and always know the increasing benefit personally. Nearly every one who worked through this seriously found a great and positive changes in their lives. Some had been struggling for decades and found a new zest for life, happy with themselves without becoming self-absorbed. Although the book is written from a serious Christian point of view, I found that those who didn't profess any particular faith also found the benefits. To really benefit from the book, I would suggest that you go through it with a trusted friend, discussion and 'safe' sharing accelerates inner healing and reinforces the positive outcomes. This is not a 'do it yourself feel good book.' It is a serious study in reality and truth and how to apply it to your life. This book shows workable antidotes to: Compulsion to achieve that still leaves you empty Reliance on others praise and fear of their rejection Guilt feelings vs real guilt and how to deal with both Feelings of shame and feeling powerless to change It is not a 'miracle' book, but many claim that it has revolutionised permanently their daily life and relationships. This is a revised version and in my opinion has become more potent for it. It is an easy read, but don't hurry there are real gems that you can miss.

The Search for Significance explores the consequences of believing the false self-worth equation of Self-Worth = Performance + Others' Opinions. Through practical biblical teaching and illustrated by case studies, author Robert S. McGee aims to teach readers that "'Our true value is based not on our behaviour or the approval of others but on what God's Word says is true of us."' (p. 19) This is one of the most liberating books I've read in a long time. My copy is filled with sticky notes highlighting key passages. I have the revised and expanded book and workbook in one volume, a 337-page trade paperback. The first half is the teaching, and the second has questions for reflection and/or discussion to complement each chapter. Robert McGee has extensive background in counselling, and he's quick to clarify that the book's scope doesn't include problems or disorders tied to physiological issues, which require extra help. Many of us, however, will benefit from a prayerful reading and even from taking this journey in company with a trusted friend.

A very humble and helpful book on speaking God's truths into your life. It offers a biblical perspective and is very practical in dealing with your thought life. It is pleasantly down-to-earth, not this hysteric "holy-in-7-steps"-type of book. The reader is never blamed for not being in the place he should. The people used as examples are always treated respectfully, no matter how awful they behaved. Although analytic, it is not overly psychological and puts emphasis on the idea that God is the one to heal and restore. This is indeed "good news", and applying it helped me grow a lot.

This arrived on a timely basis, undamaged, so I was glad for that. It's a good read too - I've been recommending it to my friends.