christians and personality types

Want to learn more about Christians and personality types? Read on!

Okay, let’s be real – who doesn’t love a good personality test?

Maybe you’re into the ones that make you dig deep (and feel much).

Or maybe you just want to know which movie princess you’re most like, or which Hogwarts house you’re in. (Mine: Belle, and definitely a Hufflepuff.)

At our core, we long to understand ourselves – our purposes, our characteristics, our talents. In doing so, we might come face to face with things we don’t like about ourselves, too.

Here’s a question: Should Christians learn about their personality types?

I could see arguments against. We don’t want to be too wrapped up in ourselves; and we don’t want to use our innate personality traits to justify sin. 

But even taking these into consideration, should we learn? Absolutely! 

Why is it helpful for Christians to understand their personalities?

It helps us better understand things like:

How God made us each unique and wonderful.

Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

We as Christians can pride ourselves in knowing how fallen and sinful and bad we are. But have you taken the time to figure out why you are so unique and so special to God? Precious enough that he would sacrifice his son for you, to adopt you as his child?

True, it’s because he loves us first and foremost. But he creates everything with meaning and purpose and beauty of its own – why not you, too?

Understanding yourself better through figuring out your personality type can be a form of God-centered self care. It’s important to know how valuable we are to God, and really is central to how we see him. 

Our core needs and desires.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Our personal needs and desires might not seem to matter much if we are living for God. But they affect us more than we realize. Our core needs and desires can either lead us to God – or be a driving factor towards sin. 

Understanding our personalities (things like enneagram types especially) can help us identify what we most long for – and find them in Christ, instead of elsewhere. God fulfills our desires so much more fully than anything in this world. 

The things that trigger us. 

What fires you up? What makes you cry? And what gets you talking? Those things are core pieces of our identities, and they are the very foundations for what we build with our lives. 

Personally, I’m learning the points at which I start feeling insecurity, shame, fear, anxiety, and sadness. And understanding what triggers me allows me to better respond when those triggers come into play, and to face and deal with them, instead of running away. It makes me stronger and more capable, when I can deal with them with God. 

Our gifts and talents.

How many times has someone asked you what your talent is, and your mind went completely blank?

Tell you my every fault? Sure! Talents? Uh…. 

God gives us our talents, and wants us to use them to glorify him! It’s part of who he made us to be and his purpose for us.

1 Corinthians 12 talks about various gifts given to us by God through the Holy Spirit. (Although your gifts can go beyond this list.) It goes on to talk about our different roles in the Body of Christ. It’s important for us to be able to identify our gifts and talents from God, and put them to good use for God! 

Our relationships with others.

Oh how I wish for a manual to better understand other people! Especially in times of miscommunication or hurt feelings. It can seem so difficult to know where they are coming from and why it’s so hard to reconcile, or why the pain is so deep. 

Knowing and understanding personality types – ours and others – helps us better learn how to communicate with people. It helps us cultivate compassion for others and see where they are coming from. (A trait our God has – “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” – Psalm 103:8)

Jesus urges us in the Bible to love people who aren’t like us – even people who oppose us! “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:44-45a. 

Our world needs us to set an example in loving other people, especially others who don’t look or sound or act like us. “By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). What better way to start growing in our compassion and perspective than understanding different personality traits. 

What can we explore more?

Sure, pop culture references are fun. However, the most helpful tests in my experience are the ones that dig deep into our hearts and minds to figure out our core characteristics and motivating factors. 

Here are some of the most common personality tests and their differences. 

• Meyers-Briggs – how you interact with the world and process information
• Enneagram – your core desires and motivations
• Strength Finders (paid) / High 5 Test (free) – your talents and skills
• Test Color – this one is fun, quick and surprisingly accurate

Can you think of more? Let me know what was helpful for you!

How about you?

Have you dug more into your own personality? What have you discovered? What helped you figure out your true types? If you haven’t gone into these tests, which one do you think would be most helpful? 

Photo Credit: 

1 – Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

2 – Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

3 – Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.