The Secret: Dare to Dream Review

The Secret Review

I was on vacation in Colorado recently with some in-laws who decided one evening to watch a movie called The Secret: Dare to Dream. This article may come too late for some who have already watched it, but consider this a warning about the movie and the false teachings behind it.

The movie, released in 2020, is based on the best-selling book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Let me be clear: the book and the movie do not claim to be Christian or rooted in biblical values. But something doesn’t need to call itself “Christian” to be spiritually harmful. When Byrne wrote The Secret, she claimed to be revealing “highly coveted, hidden, lost, stolen… secrets” passed down through the ages — ideas heavily influenced by various religious and philosophical systems.

I remember when the book came out. It was accompanied by a well-produced motivational documentary. At the time, I wasn’t a Christian, and my boss at the mortgage company I worked for showed it to all the managers as part of “training.” Nothing against my boss — he wasn’t a believer, we were all making a lot of money, and Byrne’s message was appealing. Without a biblical worldview to counter it, I found the book inspiring and was easily drawn into what Byrne was selling.

The Secret is a self-help book that claims to unveil a universal principle that will transform your life. According to Byrne, you can tap into “the power of the law that governs all our lives” to intentionally and effortlessly create joy, money, relationships, health, and happiness. The idea is that by thinking about what you want, you attract it and make it a reality — a concept known as the law of attraction.

In terms of sales, the book was wildly successful, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. Byrne’s net worth is now over $140 million. She was heavily influenced by Wallace D. Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich, a book that quotes Scripture selectively and out of context. These ideas became popular through media promotion, especially from Oprah Winfrey, who championed the book for years. Based on Byrne’s financial success alone, it’s easy for many to assume her teachings must work.

But there is real danger here for Bible-believing Christians — and for anyone being discipled in the faith.

Does It Line Up With Scripture?

The question is simple: Does the message of the movie and book align with Scripture?

The short answer is absolutely not. Not even close. As Christians, our worldview should reject this message and lovingly point others away from it. That is the purpose of this article.

Earlier in my walk with Christ, I often wondered how books, movies, music, and even churches promoting ideas like The Secret could exist when their teachings clearly contradict the Bible. Yes — there are churches that build entire ministries on beliefs similar to the law of attraction. How does God allow this, especially when they use Scripture to promote their message?

When you ask God honest questions, He often leads you to truthful answers. Around that time, I found myself studying 2 Timothy, including this passage:

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”— 2 Timothy 4:3

We live in a world that increasingly desires sin while simultaneously struggling with the conviction of conscience. People suppress the truth even though God has made it known to them. This growing appetite for sin leads to deeper depravity until eventually God gives them over to their desires (Romans 1:18–32). Once that happens, people begin twisting Scripture to justify their lifestyles and seek out teachers who will applaud their sin.

Romans 12:2 speaks directly to the power of our thinking: our minds must be transformed. The question is whether we are willing to allow God to transform our minds away from worldly desires and into righteous, biblical thinking.

Why must we be transformed?Because our thoughts are tainted by sin. We are spiritually powerless apart from God. The idea that we can use our sinful, flawed thinking to manifest anything our hearts desire is absurd. Scripture is clear that our hearts cannot be trusted and that chasing the world’s desires is sin. Money itself is not sinful — but the love of it is.

Our flesh naturally craves what the world calls “good,” which is why The Secret is so appealing. As Christians, we experience an ongoing conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. This tension is the reality of the believer’s walk — the struggle between the old nature and the new nature.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that as our minds are renewed, we come to understand God’s will — faith in Christ, not faith in our ability to obtain what the world loves:“the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:15–17).

This problem is not new. It goes back to the Fall in Genesis. Humanity’s greatest issue has always been self-reliance — the belief that we can be sovereign over our own lives. The Secret exploits this desire by directing faith toward ourselves instead of toward Christ.

Faith in Our Own Faith — Not in God

It is understandable that many Christians are deceived by the message of The Secret. In fact, the message closely resembles the core beliefs of the Word of Faith movement, which continues to mislead many churches today.

The Word of Faith movement teaches that faith is a law of the universe that even God is bound by. Therefore, if we speak something “in faith,” God must act because He is supposedly subject to this universal law. This teaching is not only unbiblical — it is blasphemous. It makes God a slave to our words and shifts the object of faith away from Christ and onto ourselves.

Faith is essential to the Christian life. Scripture says that without faith it is impossible to please God. But biblical faith is centered on Christ — not on personal gain, worldly success, or the fulfillment of fleshly desires.

Both The Secret and the Word of Faith movement teach a counterfeit gospel that emphasizes individualism, self-exaltation, and independence. They prey upon universal human desires — health, wealth, prosperity, safety — and market them as biblical truths.

Scripture, however, tells us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly desires (Colossians 3:2).Paul did not write from prison that if he thought hard enough about freedom, he would get it. Instead, he wrote:

“Rejoice in the Lord always.”— Philippians 4:4

Hebrews 11 — the chapter celebrating heroes of faith — honors those who were destitute, persecuted, and afflicted, not those who manifested prosperity.

The New Age message of The Secret ultimately encourages people to become their own god. Jesus warned His disciples that in the last days, “many false prophets will arise and mislead many” (Matthew 24:11). Our culture is full of such voices — cults, false religions, celebrity gurus, and even pastors who twist Scripture.

The message of The Secret directly opposes the gospel by counterfeiting it. It is another gospel entirely — one designed to rob people of the truth of God and His eternal promises. Paul warned the Ephesian elders:

“Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock… speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”— Acts 20:29–30

This warning is just as relevant today.

Paul also told the Galatians that even if an angel from heaven preached another gospel, it was to be rejected entirely:

“…let them be under God’s curse.”— Galatians 1:8

As Christians, we must reject the message of The Secret — not because we fear the world, but because we uphold the truth.