Significance.

I have made it my goal to read through the growing stacks of books I've gotten over the last few months. I think I've broken a personal record for how many books I've gotten at one time. This summer I think I got 19 books when I was in Colorado. As a kid I read a lot of Science Fiction novels from well known authors such as Michael Crichton, Ray Bradbury and Harry Turtledove. I still enjoy reading and as I've been growing in my relationship with God have not only extensively read the bible but read books written by Christian authors from modern times.

One book I spend the summer reading was an amazing book called "The Search for Significance" by Robert McGee. The focus of the book is helping Christians to learn how to be free to enjoy Christ's love while no longer basing their self-worth on their accomplishments or the opinions of others.As believers of Christ we are susceptible to four lies in varying degrees in our lives.

The first being "I must meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself."

The second " I must be approved (accepted) by certain others to feel good about myself."
The Third "Those who fail are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished."

And finally the forth- " I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless."

As I read everything that Robert McGee had to say in the book, I really had to take a hard look at my life up to that point. I can certainly see how in some respects I had given into these lies, even before knowing Christ. Even as a staff member with Cru, I have felt there's no room to fail or that I will avoid taking risks that might bring about failure. At times I've had situations where I felt very tempted to feel if I were more mature in my walk I wouldn't have made certain mistakes.

Thankfully God in his wisdom gives answers to these lies as outlined in the book which correspond to the four lies:

1.)We are Justified by God- This means that God has not only forgiven me of my sins, but also granted me the righteousness of Christ. Because of justification, we bear Christ's righteousness and am therefore fully pleasing to the father. (Romans 5:1)
2.)We are reconciled. This means that although we were at one time hostile toward God and alienated from Him. Consequently, we are totally accepted by God ( Colossians 1:21-22.)
3.)We are propitiated. Propitiation means Christ satisfied God's wrath by his death on the cross: therefore, we are deeply loved by God. (1 John 4;9-11)
4.) We are regenerated. This means that we are new creations in Christ (John 3:3-6)

We cannot hope to find our identify in people or in our performance. They will never satisfy us since we are all broken people. I am reminded of what God tells Jeremiah in Jeremiah 2:13-
"for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water."

We are always prone to going to someone else other than God to found our significance in life and the things we always go to never satisfy. But sadly these things leave up just as empty as we came to them and disillusioned.Whether it's finding your identity in winning a sport or saying the most funniest jokes to impress friends, it all ends the same way. Only God truly knows what we need and it is him. He is the living water we need in our lives. It's key that in light of these lies to do just that, to recognize they are lies and replace them with truth from God himself. As it tells us in Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Beyond a shadow of a doubt the promises and truths in scripture which God reveals will never change. As it tells us in Numbers 23:19

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

and again in Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ {God} is the same yesterday and today and forever.

It's very comforting especially for me to know I do not have to do anything to earn God's favor because Christ has already done so. I could never do it on my own and either could any of us. For now that things are set right between us and God we do things out of the great and boundless love he has for us.