Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 9

Building up the Body of Christ All Christians, past, present, and future together make up the mystic body of Christ, the church universal. God is Creator, Savior, and Lord. All that we are and all that we have is from Him. He gives us life in His image and likeness. At our natural birth we

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 8

Aristotle: “Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” Moral means concerned with the principles of right and wrong. God’s moral character as revealed in Scripture is the ultimate basis for Christian character.  Character is determined by ethics. Ethics is determined by values. Good character and

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 7

Introduction Our character affects everyone and everything we come in contact with. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “Character is destiny.” Good character is not inborn. It must be developed. Disciplined training of thought, speech, emotions, and actions is required. Everyone has a God-given conscience which causes us to feel good when we do what we

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 6

Introduction Our character affects everyone and everything we come in contact with. Good character is not inborn but must be developed. Thought, speech, emotions, and actions must be trained and disciplined. Understanding “right and wrong” is vital. Everyone has a God-given conscience which causes us to feel good when we do what we know is

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 5

Introduction to Christian Character Principles of good conduct have been sought, studied, and practiced for thousands of years. Aristotle listed 12 virtues he considered necessary for good conduct. God’s common grace makes it possible for all people to practice such virtues. Such virtues are necessary for Christian character but insufficient. What factor essential to Christian

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 4

Introduction Temperament and character are two major elements which interact to form personality. Temperament is morally-neutral and determines the way we prefer to acquire information, make decisions, and whether we prefer inward thinking and activity or outward expression and activity. Temperament influences how we think, speak, and act. Temperament is inborn, remaining essentially the same

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 3

Introduction It is useful to think of Personality as having two major components – temperament and character. Temperament is morally neutral. Character is that part of our personality which deals with moral matters. Bad character may choose to misuse the tools of Temperament in morally bad ways, but the tools themselves remain morally neutral. The

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 2

Introduction to Temperament Through the ages attempts have been made to understand differences in behavior. One successful method was developed by Hippocrates about 450 B.C. Hippocrates used a holistic methodology based on observed patterns of similarities in the behavior of different people. From his observations, he identified 4 different patterns of behavior which he called

Temperament, Character, and Spiritual Gifts: Part 1

Introduction: People were created by God according to His purposeful, eternal plan (Eph. 1:9-10). They were created (Gen. 1:26) in God’s image (an extension of His presence), in God’s likeness (an expression of God’s character, being like Him in morals and motives), and were empowered by authority delegated from God. They fell into sin, acquired