7 SECRETS TO PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE
(…THAT PEOPLE NEED AND WISH OTHERS KNEW THEY NEEDED THEM)
Bible Fact: Knowingly or unknowingly human beings seek daily in different ways and in different measures to find the paradise man once had with God in the beginning.
The Big Idea: People who are aware of the common personal significance needs (PSN) enable them to achieve more of the joys of success and peace in life.
Freud’s Structural and Topographical Models of Personality
Sigmund Freud’s Theory is quite complex for how our personalities developed. He also believed that different driving forces develop during growth stages which play an important role in how we interact with the world.
Structural Model (id, ego, superego)
According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.
The id doesn’t care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents’ wishes. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. When the id wants something, nothing else is important.
Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It’s the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation.
By the age of five, the Superego develops. The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers (parents). Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.
In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self-gratification (pleasure seeking) take over the person’s life. If the superego becomes too strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world. You’ll learn how the ego maintains control as you continue to read.
Topographical Model
Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious.
The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model. Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. Our conscious makes up a very small part of who we are. In other words, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible.
The final part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is the part of us that we can access if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. It’s right below the surface, but still buried somewhat unless we search for it. Information such as our telephone number, addresses, past experiences and relationships, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious.
Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water’s surface. The water, by the way, would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.
I. Man lost his/her joy in the Garden of Eden by allowing Satan to negotiate with their reasoning and reassigned their priorities to seek self-worth or to please self. Genesis 3:1-6
II. To be born again to experience Jesus Christ in the spirit aids in achieving the joy that God wants for us; John 3:3,5 (the mind illuminated, the heart is motivated & the will is captivated)
III. Pursuing and possessing temporal things seldom lead to reliable living that gives lasting joy; Matthew 6:30-34; Luke 15:13,14; I Timothy 6:6-12
IV. The Word of God is the Truth of God in which believer find directions to fullness of joy; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2,3; Psalm 119:9-11; Psalm 119:165; 119:130; John 1:1-5; Mark 8:34-37;
V. The joy, peace and fulfillment of the Christian believer are found in experiencing Jesus Christ and His love;
A. It was the Christ experience that enabled Paul to fully surrendered to the sufficiency of God; Galatians 2:20
B. It was the Christ experience that directed Paul to the sufficiency of God; Acts 9:1-6, 15,16; II Corinthians 12:8-10; Philippians 4:18,19; Ephesians 3:8-11, 16-21
C. It was the Christ experience that gave Paul’s life fullness to live joyful; Colossians 2:6-10
D. It was the Christ experience that filled Paul with champion power to progress in his purpose; Romans 8:1-4,11,14, 37-39