A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger than You

This call to live for Gods kingdom instead of my own was much needed. I am my biggest problem and PDT graciously points it out again. I need to be reminded more ham I need to be instructed and PDT does it so well.

Not finished reading yet, but have been blessed time and again with Paul Tripp's incite and wisdom that both convicts and shows me ways that I need to think and act differently.

According to author Paul David Tripp, “There really is no place for Christ in many people’s Christianity. Their faith is not actually in Christ; it is in Christianity and their own ability to live it out.” Never before have I encountered a book that stripped me of everything I believed without making me feel naked and forced me to see myself for who I am trying to be so I could better see the image of who God wants me to be. A Quest for More kept me awake at nights thinking about what I had read and how it applies to my life. It was like God performing surgery on my spirit, chapter after chapter. I don’t know how Paul David Tripp did it, but he took the things I thought I knew about the Christian life and enlarged the meaning to show how puny my Christian ambitions were. And now I can’t wait to grow into the vastness of living in God’s glory. A Quest for More should be required reading for every Christian. Because of our propensity to get distracted by our own devices, it should probably be re-read every year, too. It is absolutely life changing. You will never look at things the same again. And yet the author didn’t slap you in the face with reality, but gently presented the comparison of what we currently seek in life to the vastness of living for something more.

Before I chose this book, I read reviews that, while positive, stressed that it was far too repetitious. Having just finished it, I understand what they meant. I suppose the relentless circling around the central theme of "big kingdom living" could seem repetitive - actually, it was repetitive. But I gave 5 stars because I very much felt a third dimension at work taking each chapter higher (or deeper, if you prefer). In particular, the last few chapters brought the notion home very well indeed. Tripp explained why Christ's call to die is a call to life. That's a familiar image, but all that came before laid out the wonderful meaning perfectly. I read this with a Christian friend and it was a great experience.

The initial chapters of the book excited me and had me looking forward to more, but the book turned out to be all hook. A Quest for More turned out to be a sanctified session with Tony Robbins. There are many key thoughts and provocative questions, but Tripp never takes the next step of bringing the thoughts down to earth. This book could be very useful in a small group setting or in individual counseling. As a stand alone resource, however, it falls short. For all the questions Tripp asks and answers, the one he missed was: what does this mean on Monday?

Yet again another great book by PDT! As he explains in the introduction, the first few chapters will dig deep into your heart and it's tendency to be consumed with self rather than what you were created for, namely God and his Kingdom. Many of the chapters will lift up and encourage you. Mr. Tripp is great at applying the gospel to the heart. I recommend his teachings and books to many that want to go past behavior modification and who seek heart change and mind transformation.

I have been a follower of Jesus for 60+ years. This book opened my eyes to how little I still understand of the depth of God's love for me...and the height of what He wants to accomplish thru me for His glory alone. In this "selfie" culture, this book is a primer on Matthew 10:39--"He who loses his life for my sake will find it.

I have been constantly recommending this book the entire time I have been reading it. Recognizing the difference between living for His Kingdom and living for your own kingdom is quite possibly the most important thing you can do to go deeper still in your walk. This is a book you will read again and again, especially to ask yourself the poignant questions regarding your own heart's desires and treasures.

Overall, I liked the approach to evaluating all we do in the light of "the little kingdom" or " the big kingdom". I think it will challenge me to assess how I spend my time , and give me a reason to re-evaluate my interactions with others in the workplace and community. Interestingly, today I finished this book and read David Foster Wallace's commencement speech to Kenyon College from 2005. Wallace recognized the hopelessness in the self- absorbed life of " the little kingdom". He seemed to recognize the joy of living for something bigger than himself, but sadly, he never new the life that is available in our Saviour.

As humans - a broken people living in a broken world,,we're constantly trying to fill in the gaps of our cracked and fractured lives with a glue that won't hold us together. we're thinking of kingdoms that consider only ourselves. This book teaches us what we need to know for cultivating a life that seeks to serve,the right Kindom... that of our Lord. !any practical concepts and practical application exist throughout the book, which inspires us to serve a higher call.

The context of Western culture begs for a focused book on living beyond self. I've read it from cover to cover, read it to some I've mentored, and am about to begin reading it again. Any guesses about how important I think this exhortation to live for something bigger than your self is? Get over yourself. Live more fully alive as you discover many things much bigger than you.

Tripp gentle walks his readers through the painful process of realizing where our thoughts, hopes, fears, and desires lay. He confronts our inward propensity to focus on ourselves and opens our eyes to the possibilities of living for something (i.e.e “someone”) greater. Tripp does an excellent job at revealing our sinful inward focus and giving us a larger vision for Christ-centered living. The best of the Tripp books I have read. Clearly defined points. Helpful questions. Interesting illustrations.
Usability: Would be great to hand to a single reader, work through with a group, etc.

I am a fan of Paul Tripp. I haven't read anything that I didn't enjoy. It took me a couple months to work through this book because I highlighted nearly every other page, then stopped to savor and let it sink in. Over and over again Tripp tears down the reader's "little kingdom" and rebuilds a "big kingdom" perspective. He speaks both from a theological perspective and from a practical perspective--laying out guidelines and giving shape to what that looks like in real life. This is now one of my favorite books, and since I own the kindle version I can't wait to get a hard copy.

Paul David Tripp has written a challenging book that calls for Christians to live above and beyond their mundane, day-by-day activities that focus on self. He argues that we were made by God to live for something more than just our mere existence, but sin "shrinks our lives down to the size of our lives." The challenge is to follow the call of Christ: to die to ourselves, carry our crosses, and follow Him. This book really illuminated the condition of the human heart and causes intense reflection in your own personal life by asking penetrating questions. I highly recommend this book for those who desire to live for something bigger than themselves, those who are weary of living a status quo life, and those who need practical application of how to live out a life of kingdom living.