Ep. 119 || “But This is Just My Personality!”: How Christ Changes Us

Am I an Enneagram 3? A Princess Belle? An INFP? Wait, what are you?!

It doesn’t matter if it takes 10 minutes and 100 pop-ups, we’ll click through to learn something new about our personalities. In this episode, Emily and Laura talk about why we love learning about ourselves and what role personality profiles should play in our mothering. Digging into who we are can be useful, but our personalities aren’t the full definition of who we are in Christ. God is making all things new, changing and transforming every part of us—personalities included—into the image of Jesus.

R|M Apply Questions:

We all want to be fully known and loved. This is why learning about our personalities is so interesting. But if we misunderstand the purpose and right use of that knowledge, we can be tempted to think it holds the answers to our truest selves and defines who we’re meant to be. Only God fully knows us, and only God knows how he will shape and change us to be more like his Son. Let’s dig into the why and how behind using personality tests and the biblical principles behind identity and destiny.

Have you taken a personality test? How did you feel when you received your type, score, or assessment? Did it reveal helpful things to you? Did it reveal untrue things about you?
Personality assessments can give words to things about ourselves we’ve never been able to define on our own. They can also help reveal patterns of behaviors or motivators in our lives. How can this information reorient us around God and his word?
It’s tempting to put ourselves and others into easily defined categories. It seems freeing to use typology to create boxes that help us understand people. But what is the only standard for defining our identities as believers? Why can’t our personalities be the final standard for who we are in Christ?
When we’re given a description of our personalities, it usually includes what’s considered a “healthy” or “highly effective” version of ourselves. When we throw all our efforts into achieving that example, we’re left feeling burdened and disappointed when we can’t meet the standard. The good news of the gospel is Christ fulfilled God’s standard of perfection for us and enables us, by the Spirit, to change into his likeness. How do Christians pursue change? How does God define evidence of growth in our lives?
We test everything in the world by the truth in God’s word. Does God say our personalities are a pass to act however we want or feel? What does God say is true about the believer? How does God say a believer should live? What empowers and helps us live that way?

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