Written by: Dr. Kim Jessie, DMin
Three of us were sitting around the kitchen table laughing, talking, and sharing thoughts about our worship experience; when, we noticed that the fourth member of our family was absent. When we arrived home, she quietly slipped down the hallway to her bedroom for what we thought would be a quick minute to change clothes. As the minutes ticked by, we realized that she was not returning to the kitchen to be with us. We had expected a momentary delay, but it turned into an hour-long absence. Was she mad at us? Was something wrong? I headed to her room to find out what was going on.
God Created Us Uniquely
In Psalm 139:13, David proclaims, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Although God knows us inside and out, we need a lifetime to discover who He created us to be and what He created us to do. Unfortunately, we do not always take the time to discover the beauty of the pinnacle of His creation – ourselves. Because we do not understand who we are, we struggle to understand who other people are. We assume that people who are not like us are in conflict with us; just as our family threesome assumed the fourth family member was either angry or had something wrong in her life. What we discovered was that God knit her together differently.
Personality Assessments Help
One way to gain perspective on how God knit you together is to take a personality assessment. These assessments identify key characteristics that we may take for granted about ourselves, and some may uncover pieces of ourselves that we never knew existed. The greatest benefit is recognizing that there are people who are different than us, and their difference is part of the beauty of God’s creation of humanity.
Meyers-Briggs and the Keirsey Sorter
Two parallel assessments are the Meyers-Briggs and the Keirsey Sorter. Both use the same indicators to categorize four different aspects of our personalities. These four facets are: Introvert/Extrovert, Sensing/Intuitive, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. Introvert/Extrovert identifies how people are energized. Introverts are energized by being alone, but Extroverts are energized by being with people. Sensing/Intuitive determines how people classify information. Sensing people prefer facts and details; while, Intuitive individuals prefer relationships and gut instincts. Thinking/Feeling category identifies how people make decisions. Thinkers base decisions on facts and logical conclusions, but Feelers’ decisions are grounded in their feelings and other people’s reactions. Judging/Perceiving focuses on how people live out their daily lives. Judging people like their world organized and settled. Perceivers like flexibility and open-ended processes.
Beautiful Diversity
Usually, people are not 100% in any one area, but a blend of both areas with one area scoring higher. God created a beautiful diversity of humanity. Unfortunately, we can easily misunderstand someone’s actions simply because they are different from us. When I walked into my daughter’s room, she was sitting quietly on her bed. I asked her if she was alright and she said she just needed some time to rest. As we talked, I discovered the beauty of how God created her differently than the rest of our family. Unlike the three extroverts at the kitchen table who were fully energized after spending hours at church, my daughter was an introvert who had expended all her energy being around so many people. She was not angry with us, and nothing was bothering her. She simply needed time to recharge her personal batteries before she could join the rest of us.
How often do we misjudge others because they are different from us? Spending time with others in open, honest conversation allows us the opportunity to discover who they are created by God to be. Those conversations might just help us figure out who He created us to be.
Questions for further thought:
- From the basic information above, what clues do you have about your own personality?
- What conflicts have arisen that may have resulted from personality differences?
- What different personality types can you identify in the significant people in your life?
- What is God revealing to you about your personality and how you interact with others?
For more information on the Keirsey Assessment, go to www.Keirsey.com and take the free personality assessment. Following the assessment, you will receive basic information, and additional information can be purchased directly through the website. The book Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey provides a good resource for understanding who God created you to be.
Download entire worksheet here: https://goo.gl/A8MkVu