What’s Your Personality Type?- Treasured Uniqueness
What’s your personality? How does it relate to your responsibilities and decision making? Steph takes a look at different personalities and how we can all serve God.
What’s Your Personality?
I recently discovered there are those who separate personality types into the following four categories: the amiable, the analytic, the driver, and the expressive.
My husband falls into the amiable category. Some may call it people pleasing, but I admire his ability to truly see things from a wide variety of perspectives. It reminds me of Romans 12:18, which says,
“So far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all”
Romans 12:18 (ESV).
This is very much how Dave lives his life. I’ve often said he would make a good diplomat.
The Expressive Personality
Although I can relate to the amiable in many ways, I am most certainly an expressive. We expressives are very much about how something makes us feel.
Even though I didn’t have a name for it until recently, for some time I’ve been leery about simply making decisions based on my feelings. I would often think of Jeremiah 17:9, which says,
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9(ESV)
Does this mean we can’t trust our feelings? If we’re passionate and excited about something, should we turn our backs and walk away? If something is fun, does it mean it can’t be God’s plan for us?
King David
Let’s think about King David for a few moments. David wrote many of the psalms and they overflow with emotion.
Take the following passage for example:
I often think of Psalm 8:3-5:
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor”
Psalm 8:3-5 (ESV).
Can’t you just hear the wonder and awe in the psalmist’s voice? This is just one of the countless passages in the book of Psalms that expresses intense emotion. And emotion based on God’s Word is not to be feared or shied away from.
However, self-centered emotion and emotionalism for its own sake are entirely different.
Fun and Responsibilities
When we don’t feel like fulfilling our responsibilities, does that mean we shouldn’t do so? As I head back to work tomorrow, I know the answer to this is no. (I do enjoy my job, but it was nice having a change of pace for the past two and a half weeks.)
When a ministry opportunity is presented to us that fits our skill set, should we turn it down if it doesn’t sound like fun? Don’t get me wrong; we can’t take on everything that comes our way and it’s a good thing to enjoy the ministries we’re involved in. Without a doubt, we must be careful not to spread ourselves too thin, but not everything the Lord calls us to qualifies as fun.
When we read the Scriptures and don’t get excited about the commands we find there, does it mean we shouldn’t seek to obey them? I’m not talking about legalism or if we’re required to fulfill the requirements of the Law in what we refer to as the Old Testament.
Inspirational Passages
I’m talking about passages like the one I read this morning. Romans 12:9-13 inspired me to create a poster to remind me of 12 commands the Lord would have us obey. It says,
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality”
Romans 12:9-13 (ESV).
That’s some list! There are plenty of times obedience seems far more like hard work than fun, but that doesn’t mean obedience is optional. Thankfully, the Lord gives us both the desire and the wherewithal to walk in increasing obedience. I’ve also found that doing the right thing often proceeds the positive feelings and that makes perfect sense.
Let The Bible Be Your Guide
So, whether you’re like my hubby and want to do your part to keep the peace or like me and love an opportunity that excites and energizes you … whether you’re the analytic, who wants to understand a situation from every angle, or the driver, who is skilled at organization and oversight …
Whatever personality type you are, wherever you live, whatever your responsibilities, the Bible is to be your guide. We must filter our perspective and our decision through the directives we find in its pages.
Sometimes obeying the Lord will cause tension and upset—not peace.
Sometimes we will have to do things we’d rather not do.
Sometimes we won’t understand the logic behind something God requires of us.
And we must always submit to God’s authority, even if He has called us to a position of leadership.
What have you learned from the story of Jesus before Pilate? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Steph Nickel
Steph Beth Nickel is eclectically interested and eclectically involved. In all she does, Steph seeks to nurture and inspire. She is currently working on the first book in a nonfiction series. Nurture and Inspire LOVE is a compilation of the first devotionals she wrote for HopeStreamRadio.
Steph is a freelance writer and editor. She is the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’ award-winning memoir, Living Beyond My Circumstances, published by Castle Quay Books. Deb and Steph are working on a follow-up book.
You can visit her website, stephbethnickel.com, to learn more about her.
Visit Steph’s contributor’s page or at Steph Nickel’s Eclectic Interests.
Leave a Reply