The Five Temperaments (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Who we are is not a mistake; we were designed to be the way we are. Jeremiah 1:1 tells us, before we entered our mother’s womb, God ordained us as who we are supposed to be. Somebody asked me when I was called to preach the gospel. I thought about it and said, “Before I entered my mother’s womb, God had me in mind to do what I do. I’m just walking out what he’s already spoken.” You didn’t just come up with becoming a minister, a doctor, a teacher, or whatever you are right now. God ordained it from the foundation of the world. Likewise, God is the one who gave us our temperaments. He ordained me to be choleric and phlegmatic. He ordained you to be whatever your temperament is. You are supposed to be the way you are. Many people dislike themselves and are constantly trying to change themselves and others, because they don’t understand their God-given temperaments. When we really understand who we are and what we are called to do, why we think the way we think, our temperament can grow. This is something we cannot do on our own. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate us in those different areas of our lives: in our ministry, in our walk with God, and in our homes. Just because God ordained us to be the way we are doesn’t mean he intended us to remain the way we are, entirely. As we mature in God, our temperaments mature, as well. Say, for example, you’re melancholy. Melancholics are known for their dark nature of depression and moodiness. While they are the richest of all the temperaments, often gifted intellectually and artistically, they tend to be the most sensitive, as well. They often have difficulty making friends, as they are riddled with insecurity and easily offended. However, once they allow the Holy Spirit to heal them in those areas where have they been wounded and learn to forgive, their temperament can change, or develop. They can learn to celebrate life and enjoy the love of others, as well as learn to give love. It’s important to understand no temperament is better than the other. It’s just about how that individual chooses to use their strengths. In every temperament there are strengths and there are weaknesses. That’s where maturity in the Lord comes in. As we mature as believers, our temperaments also change, or mature. The Bible says that if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation. Old things pass away; all things become new. When we are not saved, our temperaments are pretty much the same as Saul’s, undeveloped. Saul was a murderer, before his transformation and he changed. He was still a go getter, but his mindset changed. He was not trying to persecute and kill the saints anymore. Now, he wanted to witness and to tell about the goodness of Jesus Christ. Like Paul, the more you know about God, the more you yield to the spirit of God, the more your temperaments develop. As a result, our personalities change or improve. Our personality is developed in our childhood, based on how we grew up, our environment. It is how we portray ourselves to others. Our temperament is a genetic, inborn trait of man that determines the way we think, the way we act, and deal with others. Our temperament determines our personality, especially when we are not saved. But as we give ourselves to the Lord, and as we really see what pleases him and what doesn’t please him, then we are able to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us. Thus, like Jacob, who started out as a trickster, our personalities can change, but our temperaments remain the same, only more developed or matured.