I have a crazy, reclusive uncle who, through an unlikely convergence of opportunity and incidental lucidity, was very influential in my early Christianity. He appeared when I was a teenager, impacted my young mind, and then disappeared. Several years later, he crawled out of his hobbit hole to recommend this book. Then right back into the shadows, and I've never seen or heard from him since.

But wow, what a book. I'd never read any "self-help" stuff, and Robert McGee's practical approach to combining psychology and the Gospel was earth-shattering. I'd never considered just how deeply the Gospel changes us, and how dire my need for healing. I read Search for Significance. I reread it, and that I reread it again. I raced to the bookstore, bought a dozen copies, and handed them out like tracts.

For whatever reason, the current of time pulled me away, and I forgot about SfS. Like Josiah unearthing the Law, I recently rediscovered it. It's as good as ever, and I daresay that every person, believer or otherwise, owes it to himself to read and memorize SfS. It's that good.

Notes:

Thesis: significance is man's basic need. it's fulfilled in the love and acceptance of God.

Basing self worth on our own efforts ultimately leads to despair (28)

Self-worth = Performance + others' opinions (28)

Manifest in a) compulsiveness or b) withdrawal (30)

False belief: I must meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself (38)

The first thing we do when we fail is look for someone to blame (41)

False belief: I must be approved by certain others in order to feel good about myself (57)

My sin against God is worse than anything someone could do to me (83)

Those who fail deserve to be punished (99)

we need to verbalize what the blood of Christ has done for us: We are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted, and complete in Christ. (103)

Guilt vs. conviction (162)

"The Trip In"= destructive emotions come from destructive thoughts, which come from false beliefs . False beliefs are energized by life situations. Since life situations can't be controled, the path forward lies in eliminating false beliefs (166)

I've always connected my self~worth to my job. This book has reminded me that I do not have to prove myself worth. Jesus has already deemed me worthy!!

WARNING! To anyone who reads this, do not read if you are suicidal or have any form of psychosis.

This book was recommended to me after a failed suicide attempt. I was excited to see what materials in the book could help me and help me to see the truth of the Word of God and God's will for his children when they are struggling. I found it exciting that there was a Christian book which used psychological theories to back it up.

That said, this book was beyond disappointing. The author's understanding of deep, chronic psychotic depression was non-existent as he never even mentioned that. He mentioned some information on very remedial depression, though, and through this information, totally and completely misrepresented what true depression really is. The sort of "snap out of it" mentality is just the very thing that had lead to some of my specific ideation, that said, this book is one of the WORST books to put into a person's hands who is suffering from a Psychotic episode due to Depression.

Edit to add: The subjects that this book spent most time on were not subjects that I am currently struggling with and, though irrelevant, were also discussed in a shallow and dismissive manner. However! As a guide for the average person with vague experiences of low self esteem and mental and emotional anguish, this is a book that can help with a Christian Slant.

Replacing Satan’s lies with God’s truth is so powerful. This book outlines 4 major lies that we do easily buy into every day and clearly lines out Gods truth in face of each lie and the freedom that comes with God’s truth.

This book should be read by every Christian! It talks about getting our self worth from God and not from our performance or others' opinions of us. The fist half is the book and the second half is the workbook. It will touch your heart and encourage your soul! I am so glad to be free from Satan's bonds of lies.

Very good, very helpful!

We studied his book in a Bible Study course at our church. The material was transformational for my life along with the teaching from our class facilitator. If your church offers this course, I would highly recommend it.

"The Search for Significance" is a study about what we usually do to try to feel significant versus the truths in God's Word about where to find our true significance. Those who hope to find happiness and significance through meeting certain standards or gaining approval from certain people will find that it doesn't last.

This book helps you to identify where you currently look for significance, explores the Bible for the truth about how God sees us, and teaches us how to replace lies with truth. This is truly a life-changing book, and I've read it several times. While this book focuses on where we find our self-worth, he has two other books that cover finding peace and finding freedom from insecurities, addictions, etc. Id' highly recommend these books.

God used parts of this book to convict me in so many ways! I felt like I was reading this book with God and asking him questions throughout! It made me reflect a lot!

With that, it did feel repetitive! 2.5 stars!

The Search for Significance falls under "Christian self-help." It covers four core fears/lies people believe about themselves:
-I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself.
-I must be approved by certain others to feel good about myself.
-Those who fail are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished.
-I am what I am. I cannot change. I am worthless.

and then uses Scripture to address each belief. The author is a counselor; I suspect this book is a culmination of his counseling techniques. The self-reflection quizzes and questions are helpful for processing as you read; the workbook at the back is helpful for self-awareness, healing, and growth.

I'll be honest, I do have high expectations from this book. Highly recommended in the Christian Literature. Yet, after the next one hundred pages, it becomes redundant all over again. The main point is - our search for significance is only found in Christ!

They keep repeating this theme without adding some different take, just keep preaching on it again and again. I'll recommended this book to be taught at Youth Fellowship and Home Bible Studies.

Don't misread me, the book is good, its just overrated (my opinion). The hype was just a hype. I was expecting more...

amazing book on knowing who you are in Christ. life changer