YOUR TEMPERAMENTAL WEAKNESSES NOT A BARRIER TO GOD

"And the Lord God said, " The man has now become like

one of us, knowing good and evil..." Gen. 3:22

Dictionary definitions of temperament are: “a person’s nature with regard to the effect it has on their behavior,” “a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character.”

Let me say temperament is a person’s nature of doing things. Nature is defined as “an inborn or hereditary characteristics as an influence on or determination of personality.” One great mistake people often make in regard to temperament is to consider it as an attitude when both are distinctly different. While attitude deals with HOW WE THINK, temperament deals with THE DEGREE OF OUR THINKING or THE EXTENT OF OUR ACTIONS. Temperament is an influencer of attitude. It is like a wave that directs the torrent of a river. Temperament is the total wiring of your inner world that keeps feeding your feelings.

Tim Lahaye, the expert on temperament, explained, “The most profound human influence on your life, whether you realize it or not is your inherited temperament. Passed on by your parent through the gene at the time of conception, your temperament produces your spontaneous actions and reactions, affecting your likes and dislikes and even many of your prejudices. Your basic talents as well as weaknesses come from that temperament. In all probability, as much as 25-35 percent of your behavior is the result of the temperament you were born with.”

Experts divide temperament into four kinds according to people’s strengths and weaknesses. These are:

• Sanguine: personalities in this class are people who enjoy life to the fullness, and are always lively. They are big ‘conversationalists’ who find it so easy to make friends. They are ‘empathetizers’ who share other people’s feeling. They treat everybody they meet alike regardless of their relationship.

STRENGTH: outgoing, enthusiastic, responsive, compassionate, etc.
WEAKNESS: undisciplined, emotionally unstable, unproductive, egocentric, etc.

• Choleric: personalities in this group are described as being clever, active, practical, strong-willed, and self-sufficient. Like sanguine, they are conversationalists, but not as sanguine. They are lively, and stimulate their surroundings with “their endless ideas, plans, goals and ambition.” They are idealists who are capable of making “sound, instant decisions or planning worthwhile projects.” They are crusaders and big activists.

STRENGTH: strong-willed, visionary, productive, decisive, independent, etc.
WEAKNESS: cold, impetuous, domineering, unforgiving, angry, cruel, unemotional, etc.

• Melancholy: personalities here quiet people who sway between variety of moods - can be lively, and can be moody, and depressed. They enjoy fine arts. They are self-sacrificing, gifted, analytical and perfectionist who have a sensitive emotional nature. They do not make friends easily, and if they do, they won’t let go. They are the kind of people who doubt after believing. They are intelligent.

STRENGTH: industrious, self-disciplined, aesthetic, self-sacrificing, gifted, etc.
WEAKNESS: self-centered, revengeful, critical, moody, negative, persecution-prone, etc.

• Phlegmatic: personalities in this group are cool, calm, slow and gentle people who never seem disturbed by the situations around. They are good imitators, but rarely get involved with the activities of others. They are timid, and so avoid much involvement in violence. Because of their dry sense of humour, they never lack friends. They tend to be a spectator in life.

STRENGTH: easygoing, quiet, dependable, organized, efficient, diplomatic, etc.
WEAKNESS: selfish, stingy, unmotivated, fearful, worrier, procrastinator, indecisive, etc.

(Credit to Tim Lahaye’s Why You Act The Way You Do.)

With God all our temperaments are righteous - our strengths and weaknesses are well with Him. God controls our temperament through the leading of Holy Spirit. All of our human nature is for His glory and pleasure, Ephesians 1:5, Psalm 139:13-14. Our advantage and disadvantage attributes are of little importance considering the pleasure, glory, and honour He will receive if we direct all their usefulness towards Him.

As it is shown above, there is no kind of temperament without shortcomings and benefits, all we need to understand is that they are what make us divine. God says, “Man is now like one of us knowing good and evil”. Therefore, knowing good and evil is the divine greatest pairs of attribute that make a whole divine human being - not either of the two in isolation.

Therefore, God appreciates who we are as natural beings, but the exultancy of our human weaknesses gives Satan a quick chance to operate against us, and that why God is more concerned about our weaknesses than our strengths because the weaknesses can corrupt the strengths if left unchecked, 1 Corinthians 15:33. When God is in charge, every part that makes a whole complete temperament becomes blessing. Your covetousness, stinginess, boasting, talkativeness, fanatics, fearfulness, outspokenness, love, friend-making, perfectionism, knowledge-seeking, meekness, stubbornness, dullness, and all your skills and abilities all become instruments of righteousness, building the kingdom of heaven as well as becoming instruments of destruction to the kingdom of darkness.

God is never angry with us for our human natural weaknesses, of course, He create us, but He becomes angry when we allow them to make much of us and lead us away from Him completely. As temperament is useful in the hands of God, so also is it in the hand of Satan who uses it to human destruction.

Also read God needs Your Weaknesses