Job was in the pits of despair. His life had been destroyed. Life was not worth living. Everything near and dear to him had been taken away. His friends concluded that the only reason he was going through all this trouble was that he had sinned and angered God who was bringing all this trouble upon his head. Our scripture is a portion of Job’s lament and anguished cry to God. Nobody has ever suffered like Job and yet in the midst of his travail, Job declared to God, “Your hands shaped me and made me…. Remember that you molded me like clay.”

We are asking the question: Who are you? We have discovered that the Bible teaches us that each one of us is unique and one-of-a-kind and that God created us very special. How unique are we? Mathematicians tell us that DNA molecules can unite in a multitude of ways. How different? How about 10 with 2 billion, 400 million zeros behind it! We can’t think that high but to give you an idea of just how large this number is: if each zero were 1 inch wide you would need a strip of paper 37,000 miles long. God also created us to be in relationship with Him and to be used by Him for significance in our world, in His Kingdom and through SUMC. We realize that each one of us is uniquely SHAPEd by God for God. Our SHAPE consists of Spiritual gifts, Heart (passion), Abilities, Personality and Experiences. All of these come together by God’s hand to make each of us unique.

Let’s look at personality. You remember those high school yearbooks when everyone wrote in them at graduation: “To a great gal/guy with a great personality.” What were they talking about? Personality is the way you think, feel and act. It is the essence of you! Some of your personality comes from your genes and some comes from your environment—nature and nurture. You are a complex combination of a potential of some 18,000-personality traits. You are so complex that most of you are still trying to figure yourself out. Your personality influences every area of your life: how you make decisions, who you marry, the job you choose, where you live, the kind of house you own, the car you drive, what makes you laugh and cry, how you relate to people, how you relate to God, what kind of church you attend, how you pray and worship, and the list goes on.

The primary way your personality reveals itself is how you relate to other people. Let’s see a bit of what this might look like. Oft times people misunderstand us because they don’t understand why we do and say what we do and say. 1 Corinthians 12 (Phillips) “God works through different people in different ways.” Our God loves variety and He certainly made enough variety in people! Every one of us think differently, feel differently, react differently—we are just different. This causes people to misunderstand you, and you to misunderstand them. This is a major problem in marriages, in politics and government, in business, and in church. Several years ago now, I sat in an Administrative Board meeting and observed and listened to a dialogue between two members over an issue. I had just learned about the lion, otter, golden retriever and beaver personality traits and was fascinated that I quickly determined this dialogue to be a personality issue between a lion and a beaver. It was amazing. Now there are many tools you can use to assist you in determining your personality: Taylor-Johnson, Myers-Briggs Survey, MMPI, then the classic personality types of the ancient Hippocrates made popular some years ago by Tim LaHaye.

Let me share with you rather briefly an overview of the 4 basic personality types (Gary Smalley): lion, otter, golden retriever, and beaver. Keep in mind that each one of us as some of each of these “animals” in each, and that there are a multitude of different combinations of these “animals.” Each of these animals has both strengths and weaknesses and in fact depending on the circumstance their strengths can get out of balance and be a weakness and vice versa. The idea here is to help us understand ourselves so that we can attain a more balanced personality as we grow in Christ likeness. Remember that these traits affect our communication style and how we relate to one another.

The lion is a born leader and likes to take charge of any situation. Lions love challenges and love to solve problems.

They like to be in control, are very competitive, and they love to argue. They also like change and the “bottom line” is all that really matters.

The otter on the other hand is a playful kind of person, fun-loving, carefree, full of energy, the life of the party. Otters love people, are optimistic, who both enjoy life and love a good prank. They have a good self-image and are happy-go-lucky.

Golden retrievers are warm and relational kind of people. They are very loyal and sensitive who are born peacemakers. They are great listeners and very loyal. They do not however like conflict and prefer to stay in the background, and they love routine. Golden retrievers do not like to argue.

Beavers are methodical and detailed and are highly organized. They are neat and clean. In fact one beaver type looked under a motel bed only to be surprised to see a sign that read, “Yes, we clean under here, too.” Beavers are fact oriented who like to analyze things. They are intuitive who value accuracy and precision.

Because we are all different we find ourselves in constant conflict with others. Most of your problems are people problems like Paul and Barnabas, the disciples, Saul and David, Jacob and Esau, Paul and Peter. Because we don’t know these basic personality traits and how to deal with them marriages suffer and often fail, teens rebel, employees get fired, churches split, and wars are started.

There are three keys that will help us get along better with other people.

First, be aware of personality differences. Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience.” The more you understand yourself, how you act and react, and the more you understand other people the more patient you are with them. When we don’t, we often misjudge them, question their integrity or motives, and even oppose them. Constant conflict is the result. In marriages it has been said that opposites attract and there is some truth to this, but I see it more as not opposites but as complementing each other. Where one is disorganized the other is organized. One is a dreamer, the other is practical. One is detailed, the other is big-picture. One gets lost in their driveway; the other finds their way through Philadelphia. One is emotional; the other is as calm as a cucumber. So marriage is 2 different halves of one whole—you need each other. If both of you were alike one would be unnecessary. The problem occurs when we tried to re-shape the other to be like us! But awareness is not enough.

The second key to getting along with other people is to accept personality differences. Sharon and I remind each other from time to time, “We celebrate our differences.” The Bible has much to say about this issue. Romans 15:7, “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” The disciples Jesus chose were all quite different. Peter was impetuous. John was thoughtful. Nathaniel found it easy to believe. Thomas was the skeptic. Matthew was a loyalist whereas Simon was an instigator.

People who look up to God don’t look down on others. To accept others means to realize and understand that differences are not a moral issue and not a matter of right or wrong, good or evil. They are just different. Only Jesus could have brought such diverse people together under His teaching. God loves variety.

Romans 14:13 (Phillips), “Let us stop turning critical eyes on one another. Let us rather be critical of our own conduct and see that we do nothing to make a brother stumble.” When you are critical, you set yourself up as the standard for all personality. God says that Jesus is the standard, not you! That is why there are so many different kinds of churches and worship styles. It is not a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of personal preferences. Some like praise songs, others like hymns. Some like Elvis Pressley, others like Pavoratti. Don’t criticize differences, rather celebrate them!

Ephesians 4:2, “Generously make allowances for each other because you love each other.” Here is a verse that is the foundation for every marriage. This is true for other relationships as well. Realize that God made people unique and it was His idea! God made them different from you and that is okay and even good. Be aware of those differences and also accept those differences.

The third step is the real mature step. Not everyone gets to this level and that is—appreciate personality differences. You actually begin to value people’s uniqueness. You see God’s wisdom in making us all different. How many of you have said, “Boy this would be a great world if everybody was just like me!” Can you imagine how boring this life would be if everyone were a clone of you? Christian maturity means that we not only accept people’s differences but also actually appreciate and value those differences. It takes all kinds of people to balance a home, a church, a community, a nation and a world.

1 Corinthians 12: 27 says, “All of you together are the body of Christ and each of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” Get that word ‘necessary.’ We are all necessary. If 2 people agree on everything then one of them is unnecessary. When you eat you eat with a knife, a fork and a spoon (and maybe even fingers from time to time!) If you learn not only to be aware of and accepting of different personalities around you, but also appreciate the differences then life not only becomes a whole lot easier but you’ll also become more like Jesus (ie mature) because Jesus appreciated those differences and actually created those differences.

Romans 12:10, “Have a profound respect for each other.” This is not a suggestion but an imperative command. Here’s the question: how can I have respect for people with negative personality traits? This is where God’s love and grace come in to play and are marks of Christian maturity. You need to look beyond their fault and see their need. It might be that positive traits being misused. A hyper critical person is someone who has the positive trait of discernment gone bad. A bossy person is misusing the positive trait of responsibility. Impulsive people often abuse the positive trait of flexibility. Negative traits can be redeemed and transformed by God’s Spirit and become the source of our success in Christ. God gave us our personality but Satan perverts it and that is why we need Jesus—to redeem us and change us from the inside out. As believers God expects us to obey Romans 12:10 and have respect for each other. God has not nor never will create ‘cookie cutter’ Christians.

We value that here at SUMC. Can you imagine how boring it would be if all of you were like me? We are a diverse people who are aware of people’s differences, accept and even appreciate those differences. God calls us to be unified not uniform! Differences don’t have to lead to division. Our unity is in Jesus Christ and His Lordship of our lives and our church family.

So, who are you? What combination of lion, otter, golden retriever, and beaver as God uniquely given to you? Here’s your homework: Answer the personality questions but don’t stew over them. Answer them very quickly and there are no right nor wrong answers. Then add them up, chart them on the reverse side. Then read the personality traits and characteristics descriptions. This will help you understand how God how uniquely shaped you with His personality for you.

Then answer 2 questions: What does my personality indicate the type of job and ministry God wants me to have? What kind of personality does God want to bring into my life to give me balance?

You’ve got personality plus Jesus!

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.