Seeing God as a Perfect Father: and Seeing You as Loved, Pursued, and Secure

by Louie Giglio

You are chosen, loved, prized, wanted, and believed in by a perfect Father. In Seeing God as a Perfect Father , Louie Giglio invites us to experience God in a life-changing as a perfect Father who wants you to live under the waterfall of His blessing. How you view God informs everything about who you are and who you're becoming. In this updated and retitled edition of the national bestseller Not Forsaken , Louie Giglio challenges our common perceptions of who God is and points us to know Him as a heavenly Father who is not absent or ambivalent but is available and ready to embrace us with His approval and blessing. Seeing God as a Perfect Father invites you   When we take hold of the truth that God has spanned heaven and earth to reach us, we will no longer be defined by our pasts but by the love of a perfect heavenly Father. When we rightly see God's character, we rightly see that we are loved, pursued, and secured by the Creator of the universe.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Christian Living, Theology, Christian Non Fiction, Religion

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Brian McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely a very good book, but I feel like it was heavily anecdotal when I would’ve appreciated more Biblical exegesis, though I have no problem with anecdotal messages. I also feel like, for the most part, the author kind of writes off the assumption that the reader has a less-than-satisfactory relationship with their father (whether their father is simply gone, deceased, or terrible), and since I have a good relationship with my dad, I kept having to adjust my perception of what the author was communicating.

[Peggi Tustan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you think of God, how do you imagine him? None of our parents were perfect. I never had a very close relationship with my father. I felt like he never really knew me. As a teenager, when I came to know Christ as my Savior, I remember thinking, "Now, I have a father!"

I am perfectionist. Thereby, I tend to see God as a perfectionist in the way He views me. As if, nothing I do is good enough. I just can't get it right. I know the truth. Our God loves me/us unconditionally. His love is full of grace. I don't have to get it right. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to earn his love. He loves me because that's who he is. It is his character. God is love. But because it is a life pattern for me, I tend to fall back into viewing God through my perfectionism.

I read this book because I am taking this class at my church. This class/book is reinforcing a healthy view of God as my perfect Father. I am his beloved daughter. He fully knows me and fully loves me!

[Blake Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 Thank you to Rylie for lending me this! I definitely learned a lot, and the way I view my relationship with God is much different. I had many personal revelations while reading and ended up taking notes throughout. Personally I came away from this book with a deeper sense of trust in God, which isn’t something I even recognized I was lacking. If anything, the opposite! But this book opens your mind and eyes to things you maybe don’t yet realize or see yourself. I definitely recommend.

[Adam James · Rating 5 out of 5]

My own spiritual journey and growth have tracked with the ministry of Louie Giglio and Passion Conferences for 18-25 year olds. Jesus changed my life the same year the Passion ministry started (1997). This book is one of Louie’s life messages. I remember hearing him teach and preach much of the content of this book over 20 years ago and it deeply impacted me then. The truth of knowing God as a perfect father are absolutely foundational and transformational for the human soul and for Christians new and old. Knowing God as your loving Heavenly Father is the highest blessing of the Christian life. It’s liberating and comforting and assuring. Yet many struggle to know it experientially or fail to receive the freedom it affords for a variety of reasons, most having to do with the broken image or experience of their own relationship or example of their earthly father. The enemy has always attacked Father’s and loves to distort and wound and bind and lie … so that our souls stay stuck or chasing the elusive craving of a Father’s blessing and approval. Louie has written an excellent book that speaks to these realities. I highly recommend this for a new believer, young believer, anyone wrestling or struggling with knowing God as a good, loving Father, or anyone ready for a refreshing review of these glorious life-changing truths.

[olivia debartolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does not use appropriate exegesis in referring to scripture (taking things out of context and misapplying it to our personal situations).. It seemed to be pretty surface level content and I did hope for there to be more scripture based instruction, but I may have just had too high expectations for the book. Very sweet stories about his dad. I wish there was more depth to the application portion of the book!! Hope this book was inspiring and encouraging to others.

[brit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book would better benefit someone who doesn’t know their father or has a bad relationship with their father. However there were lots of things I learned about being a child of God through this book and His relationship with us, His children! The last three or four chapters of the book were amazing despite ur relationship with ur father. Those impacted me the most and that is the reason im giving this book 4 stars!

[Samantha Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Tears after every chapter. What a beautiful reminder of a beautiful Father. Will be reading this again and again! Can’t recommend it enough!!!

[Chloe Shearer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a tender read. I got this to prepare for a devo and it was just so amazing. God as Father is my favorite attribute of Him and it was so encouraging and healing to read this and all the truths of His Word quoted in it. I am so grateful for a perfect Heavenly Father who loves me and calls me His!! Would 10000% recommend💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

[Ella Layer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book depicts God as a Father! He is not only love, peace, justice, and grace but a perfect Father who displays all these characteristics! I highly recommend this book to those that want to connect with God personally and in a relatable way.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our Heavenly Father is perfect. As a child of a great father and an earthly father myself, I see His unending, boundless love for me.

[Kaitlyn Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars :)

[Jeffrey McDowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The attribute which Jesus uses to describe God more than any other in the New Testament is God as Father.

[Rachel Tuimaseve · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ some really great messages but just very repetitive.

[Kyrawilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazinggg🎶🎶 Really made me feel a deeper connection spiritually to Jesus & God. Also gave me a new perspective & introduction to what Jesus’s unconditional love truly is.

[Audrey Coterel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to pace myself with this one… healed a lot of me that I didn’t know was broken. It also gave me a new perspective of how to love my earthy father well even when he fell short for me.

[Hannah Granato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in awe of the wonders of who God is and who i am within Him. Loved this book!

[Amy ♥♫★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for those with daddy issues, or even mommy issues. Get ready to receive not just love, but healing as well.

[Julia Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

helped me so much to myself as a cherished, loved, wanted child of God!!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It serves as a great reminder that God is my Father, and I am immensely loved by Him. However, I also found myself wanting more as I read the book....I wanted Louie to dive deeper into the character of God. The book was very repetitive in terms of reminding the reader that God is our Father and we are loved by Him. This ARC was given to me by Thomas Nelson in exchange for honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Stacey Cochran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this book. The content was a great reminder of the perfect father that God is and that I am loved by him. However, I felt that it was repetitive in some ways.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Brice · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all it’s a good book. I didn’t personally feel like I was the intended audience for this book. That said there were still lots of great nuggets of info to be had.

[Levi S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Giglio provides nurturing commentary on the state of paternal comfort granted by God, there were more than a few areas of the text that left me wanting more from the critically-acclaimed pastor.

For starters, the direction of the book (as defined by its title and associated description) did not head in the direction that is implied by its synopsis properties. An example of this can be seen in the way that the summary of the text is conveyed. While it mentions that the book would target conversations surrounding familial views of conflict, I didn’t realize that meant a majority of the book would be spent discussing it explicitly. During many occasions, content previously covered in the book would be re-hashed. Couple that with a lack of varied terminologies, and it felt like I experienced “Deja-vu” time and time again.

Additionally, while scripture was presented on a couple of occasions, it would have been helpful to see a larger array and more thorough analysis of the said proposed scripture. Much of the evidence provided was general in nature, and did not provide context to the background history in which it was originally written.

I would perhaps suggest that this book be better branded to a niche reading audience, like those who are new(er) to Christianity and wanting to come to terms with their preconceived notions about how the Holy God can differ from their earthly father. It has a target group, yes. I just don’t think it was for me specifically.

[Cupcake Book Lady]

“God wants you to know who God is… A Father who gave you life, made you uniquely you, adores you, and wants to be a part of your life…He can transform our lives through the power of that perfect love so that no matter what loss we have walked through in life, we can live free…what unites us is the need that’s woven into our souls—the need to be loved, and treasured, and noticed, and accepted by our father.” And in addition to all this, “He has woven into your heart a gift and a dream so that you can invest your days in meaningful pursuits that make your heart come alive and help others’ hearts come alive also.”
The precious truths and promises of this book will split open and repair so much for those of us who need to know or be reminded that “The God of heaven is for you. He sees you. And He wants you to know the joy of being a child of God and of having the most excellent Father possible.”
This book will be a balm and a blessing to so many. It should be on a must-read list for every Christian and for every person hurt and seeking healing from an imperfect father or father figure.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review from Thomas Nelson and Net Galley. All opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the publisher or its affiliates or the author.

[claire thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay i have a lot of opinions about this. trying to be objective…

*disclaimer— this book is objectively good and full of truth and could be super helpful & healing to someone

i, however, did not have that experience


1. i have processed and studied and listened to talks and podcasts on this topic over the past 3 years. so i wouldn’t necessarily say this was the best time to read it. it didn’t provide me with any new ideas/applications/perspectives. probably would’ve been helpful 3 years ago.

2. this is just a preference— too many personal stories! i like personal stories in the right setting. like i would definitely read all about louie in a memoir. but it felt like a lot of filler… kind of makes you feel like 1) there’s not much to say or 2) there was some grasping for straws to make accurate illustrations

3. seemed overly simplified. not that it’s bad, i think i just wanted to be challenged and motivated and encouraged aaaand i wasnt.

4. also seemed really repetitive. this just used a lot of the same ideas over and over and over… each chapter kind of felt the same

BUT let’s be honest, this is a helpful tool and honestly
something i would recommend to other people needing to chew on the truth of what it means to see God as a father!

[Luthermilla Ecole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, Amazing book

Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬ “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

[Abisola · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a slow burn, it’s great for people who have trauma around their Father’s but if you want to learn how to perceive God the right way and see yourself through His lense, it gets better from like chapter 5 maybe.

I did enjoy his Louie’s personal anecdotes and I appreciate his sensitivity to people who have a variety of both good and bad father experiences but I enjoyed even moreso the final chapter, specifically around how to undo habits, you don’t just kill bad beliefs with what you shouldn’t do, replace bad beliefs with good beliefs

E.g. you’ve believed you’re unloveable, instead of saying I know I’m not unloveable you should say I am loved, for God so loved the world He gave His only Son etc. I really enjoyed that nugget.

[Marilyn Madlion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me confront a lot of things I didn't know I was running from. It made me realize that I am a product of the things I'd long forgotten or refused to acknowledge. A lot of our problems come from a lack of something. A lack of confidence, a lack of resources, a lack fo a father... Allowing God take the place of apparent absence changes your view. It changes your life. Giglio made sure to accomodate every person's possible relationship with their father; being careful not to glaze over soul wounds but not to let us dwell where we were left for too long. It was a calming, funny and other times, tear jerking read. I hope that if you're on the edge about reading this, you fall on the side that says yes.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giglio is a big name, but I had never read anything by him before. This book was previously released under a different title, Not Forgotten, but rebranded and released under this title.

The content is good. At some points, I thought he was going to give the reader some practical steps or journaling assignments (which I thought would be helpful - and make me sweat!) but he didn't quite get around to practical application, which is a shame.

There is a lot of truth in this book. I was blessed to read it. Just think it could have gone a lot further as far as practical discipleship and next steps.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really encouraging & repetitive. Repetitive in a good way & a bad way — the concepts did not go as deep as I expected. This is a great read but in comparison to other Giglio books, not my favorite. Don't get me wrong — He portrays God as a loving father in all accuracy. It just wasn't as thorough as I was hungry for? Because I grew up in the church scene, I know & believe a lot of what Louie is teaching in this book. It's great content & I loved the reminders & stories he used to get the points across. I recommend to those who are new to the faith & are still discovering who God can be in their lives.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rev Giglio is a master preacher. In this book, he talks about seeing the difference of fatherhood between Earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father. He goes in depth about what it truly means to be a child of the most high. There is so much in this book that I just never really considered before.
No matter where you are in your walk with God or what your relationship with your Earthly father is like, this is an absolute must read.