Part 3 — The False Ways We Seek Significance

There is something deeply human in all of us that asks a simple question: “Do I matter?” We may never say it aloud, but much of what we do is an attempt to answer it. We work hard. We try to succeed. We accumulate possessions. We seek recognition. We want people to like and respect us. We try to remain in control of our lives. Beneath many of these desires lies a longing to feel that our lives have value and significance.

The problem is not that achievement, possessions, recognition or influence are necessarily wrong. They can all be good things. The problem begins when we depend upon them to tell us who we are.

Some of us find our significance in what we accomplish. We think, “If I can achieve enough, I will know that my life matters.” But achievement has a dangerous habit: there is always something more to achieve. Success can bring satisfaction, but it cannot give us a permanent sense of worth.

And what happens when we can no longer achieve as we once did? Retirement, illness, failure or simply growing older can take away the things upon which we built our identity.

Possessions and Status

We can also seek significance through what we own or the position we occupy. A bigger house, a better car, a particular title or social standing can make us feel important.

But possessions can be lost, and positions eventually pass to someone else. If our significance depends upon them, we are building our identity on shifting ground.

The Approval of Others

Perhaps the most powerful substitute is the approval of other people. We want to be liked, admired and accepted. There is nothing wrong with wanting healthy relationships, but when our sense of worth depends upon the opinions of others, we become vulnerable to rejection.

We begin living not from the inside out, but from the outside in.

Power and Control

Finally, we may try to establish our significance by controlling our circumstances and other people. If everything happens according to our plans, we feel secure and important.

But life continually reminds us that we are not in control. Unexpected events, illness, loss and disappointment expose the fragility of this approach.

So where, then, does genuine significance come from?

The Christian answer is both simple and profound:

Our significance is not something we achieve; it is something we receive.

We matter because God has created us, knows us and loves us. Our worth does not depend upon our performance, possessions, popularity or power.

The Psalmist asks, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them?” Yet the extraordinary biblical answer is that God is mindful of us.

That changes everything.

We no longer have to spend our lives proving that we matter. We can begin to live from the security of knowing that, in God’s eyes, we already do.

And perhaps that is where our real search for significance finally begins.