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Are temperament and Mental Health at all related? A positive, spiritual view of self. |
| Jesus was the epitomy of meekness. To be spat upon, beaten, and crucified without arguing for His defense. He had the power to call many leagues of angels to stop them from this merciless killing, but He, of course, knew that this had to be done to defeat sin and death. There would be no argument that would change of the minds of those who persecuted Him, some without knowledge of who He really was. An example of an imperfect man in the Bible was that of Moses. He was called the greatest prophet Israel had ever known. He was bombarded with resistance while in the desert, yet he did not submit to his rage against the protestors. He went to God and let Him handle it. My favorite story about Moses is Numbers 16, when Korah leads a rebellion against him and tries to usurp authority. Moses put the judgment lay in YAHveh's hands, and His power caused the protestors to be swallowed up into the ground, which broke open with an earthquake, then closed up. The rest of the protestors were wiped out with fire from the heavens, then still others were wiped out with a plague. Moses is the same man who, when God told him to go to deliver His people, asked who he was to do such a thing. This is meekness. Now, onto the temperaments: All of the temperaments have the natural element of selfishness. We are born into this world caring about what we need, for that is how we survive. When we get older, we realize that we could not possibly be an island to ourselves and forget that others have and will influenced our lives. Our focus, however, is still on ourselves. To be meek is not a natural fruit of man, but rather a supernatural fruit of the Holy Spirit. People of Sanguine temperament, like the others, do not naturally exhibit this fruit. Anger rises up when it comes to defending themselves. If the subject of disagreement is a passionate conviction of theirs, it could even get violent. Their happiness can turn to anger on a dime, and it is not very predictable to people who do not know them. They are interested, mostly, in boasting about who they are and what they have done, and do not concentrate on the person they are speaking with. This is not intentional, but rather done without much thinking. Sometimes their experiences will help others deal with problems, but it goes against the grain of this element of selfishness to expect the other person to talk about someone other than himself/herself. When this fruit is incorporated into their lives, Sanguines boast about other people and take less offense when they are criticized. They focus less on themselves. With this fruit, their anger is kept in check, and that has good effects on physical health also. Cholerics are bold and are often seen as arrogant and stubborn in whatever they attempt to do. For the Apostle Paul to take the persecution that he did in his years of spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles, this fruit had to be incorporated into his life. He was still bold, and the Choleric tendency to see the bigger picture did not go away. He had a thorn in his flesh, which kept him humble. He called for the people at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord when he was in prison in Rome, standing in human excrement and submitting to other horrid conditions. The Cholerics are naturally stubborn to defend what they believe is right, even if they aren't. It's like trying to break down a brick wall when arguing with them. Their words can often be biting and cruel to those who oppose them, so many possible friendships are lost forever to their stubborness. They are born leaders, but they often miss the point that, to become the greatest leaders, they must serve the most people. When this fruit is incorporated into their lives, Cholerics are powerful, caring, and unstoppable leaders. Melancholies have a natural small dose of this fruit, although their selfishness often leads them to feel sorry for themselves, driving them to Depresssion and and other depressive illnesses. They may hurt themselves, physically or psychologically for the wrongs that they have done other people. Their selfish tendencies can lead to vengeful thoughts and actions against those who ignore them. Moses was most definitely of Melancholy temperament. It would be good for anyone of this temperament to read the first five books of the Bible, and especially the story of Moses. He, of course, wrote the first five books in the original Biblical Hebrew. He was a writer of great magnitude, telling the history of God's people even before his birth. God entrusted him with much, for he was humble and meek. Melancholies, like Moses, are self-sacrificing and are willing to submit to authority when said authority proves himself/herself. The problem, as I've said before, is that they remember these times of self-sacrifice and brood over them, which doesn't do anyone else any good. They are thinking of themselves and how they were hurt, and how they sacrificed something of great worth to them, and how no one seemed to notice. They have a hard time seeing the big picture, and that their actions never go completely unnoticed. They may never, naturally, know how they've affected great change. Melancholies need a full dose of this fruit for the betterment of their physical, psychological, and spiritual health. Phlegmatics are silently stubborn and bold. It is not apparent to those who do not watch "the quiet one." We tend to think we know what is best for our lives, and we ignore input from others who say anything to the contrary. We do not say anything in defense, but rather act according to or against what we are told to do. Abraham had problems with this fruit, at first, but when he was asked to sacrifice his most precious gift, his son, he passed the test. He knew, by faith, that God would supply a sacrifice, but he did take the knife to Isaac, ready to kill him as God had instructed. This is meekness and humility. Without this fruit, we would possibly sabotage something that we do not think is right. This can be done through clever pranks, lying, or just by omission. We react with sarcasms that can bite just as hard as the Choleric's harsh words. When the Lord breaks down our stubborn walls, and we incorporate this fruit into our lives, our temperament weaknesses become powerful strengths to help others. When our thoughts become congruent with the submissive exterior that othes often see, then we become great counselors, no matter what problems others may confront us with. Glory be to God! Is there anything else yet to say about meekness? |
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