The topic this week was an interesting one to present in this group, because there are some widely varying opinions on personality and personality tests! However, all the girls were very gracious in cooperating with a rather cursory Myers-Briggs personality test at the beginning of the lesson. (Thank you, girls--you're amazing!)Because of the slight controversy in the group, we went over things that personality tests are and aren't. They ARE:
•
Tools
to help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses
•
Tools
to aid in understanding other people
However, they are NOT:
•
Boxes
to fit everyone into
•
Weapons
to judge people by (i.e. my type is better than yours)
We also discussed how no one type is "better" than another, but each one is important. (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:14-18.) If everyone were feelers, we wouldn't have the engineers, the software developers, and the people that create life-saving technologies like stents and 3D tissue printing. If everyone were thinkers, there would be a lot more conflict in the world!
Obviously, each type has its strengths and weaknesses. God has created each one of us to be perfect, but then sin corrupted us, so now we get to deal with selfishness and pride. With His help, we need to develop our strengths and overcome our weaknesses, striving all the time to be more like Jesus.
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis (in the story of a demon instructing his nephew on how to tempt a human) says,
“Of
course I know that the Enemy [God, from the demon's perspective] also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a
different way. Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin [humans], and
sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When he talks of
their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will;
once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and
boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more
themselves than ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even
their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own
nature for any other reason. And we [the demons] should always encourage them
to do so. The deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the
starting-point, with which the Enemy [again, God] has furnished him.”
In other words, we need to lose ourselves in Christ to find ourselves in Christ...God wants us to give up our
selfishness and pride and allow Him to mold us into what He created us to be.
Many people think that personality and identity are interchangeable, but identity is broader and more stable than personality.
Identity includes:
- Who you belong to (Are you a child of God?)
- Where you’re going (Do you have the security in knowing that you'll go to heaven when you die?)
- Your purpose in life (You are on a mission from God. What is that mission, and are you following it?)
- Some biological factors (You're either a guy or a girl. You have a unique fingerprint.)
- Values, situation, and personality (The changeable part: what you believe, your family situation, your personality as discussed above.)
Personality
•
Part
of identity
•
Can
change over time
•
More
easily described
•
Who
you are as an individual right now
Identity
•
Broader
than personality
•
Unlikely
to change much; secure
•
Difficult
to describe or define
•
Who
you are in Christ forever
If you are a child of God, then no matter what, you have the
assurance of knowing that you’re loved, you’re safe, and your life has meaning.
You know that in the end, you’ll go home to be with the Lord, and absolutely NO
ONE can take that from you. As Romans 8:38-39 says,
For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If this is your identity, you can be secure.
In small groups, the girls talked about their own individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as practical ways that they can work to develop strengths and minimize weaknesses. They considered Galatians 2:20 and Ephesians 2:10 in their discussions.
As always, we began and ended the meeting with singing. Our songs this week were...
Memory verse: Psalm 139:13-14.
Extra credit: Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:10
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