Identifying and Transforming your Temperament - PH86-01
Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 4:8-9

So, first of all, you must be a born again believer – one who is in the family of God through faith in Christ. Then the mind has to be fed on doctrine, and the actions have to be compatible to doctrine. So a person's mental focus, Paul says, and his actions (his thinking and his experience), program a certain quality within us that causes us to move to certain goals. It is the subconscious which is actually programmed by our thinking and by our actions. It causes this part of our being to seek out, inevitably, certain goals. So all the use of the years of your life is going to be determined by your subconscious.

So an interesting fact evolves as we study ourselves, and as we study our reactions. We realize that anytime our volition conflicts with what we have programmed ourselves to be, our volition loses, and our programming wins. That's very important for us to understand. That is the result anytime our volition comes into conflict with our programming. That is, we know we should do this; we know we should act in this way; and, we know we should be proceeding in this direction, but if we have programmed ourselves against that, the programming will win, and your volition will be overridden. That is what causes that desperate cry that goes up from so many people, "Why do I do these things? I don't want to be this way. Why am I so helpless in the presence of this sin? Why am I so helpless in the presence of this temptation?" Because you programmed yourself to be like that. You can also change it.

So this is a very important piece of information. That is why, in Philippians 4:8-9, the apostle Paul stresses these two points. It's a matter of what you think, and it's a matter of your experience of what you do that determines how your goal-seeking mechanism that God has built into your being in the form of the subconscious will lead you. So it's what you think about, and it is what you do, that program your subconscious to guide you toward the goals that bring either happiness or unhappiness.

One of the saddest sights is a person who has programmed himself with human viewpoint thinking and human viewpoint actions – to see him standing there, bruised and bewildered, amidst the disastrous consequences of his own programming. He used his thinking to focus on evil. He used his eyes to indulge in lust. He used his ears to receive that which was degrading. He used the members of his body in a dishonorable way. Everything that poured into his inner being programmed him to a disaster. And one day, everything collapses on him, and he stands in the midst of the debris, wondering, "How did this happen to me?" So unless the mental focus is radically changed to divine viewpoint, and the practice is humbly submitted to Bible doctrine guidance, the future of these wounded animals is going to be another disaster. They are doomed to repeat their errors.

The Four Temperaments

These types are the variety (I want you to remember) which got built into the creation of mankind. These types are not evil. The fact that these people are like this is not evil. The fact that they are like this is not sinful. All four temperaments were a part of God's creation. If there is one thing you will observe about God's creation, it is that He has a variety. God is a God of color, variety, and divergence. That's what makes life interesting. He is not a God of monotony. This quality is reflected in God's creation of human beings – thus, the four types. The original creation had only the strengths. We have shown you that each particular temperament has certain strengths and certain weaknesses.

But I want you to remember that, originally, whatever type Adam was, was all strengths of that type. Whatever type Eve was, was all strengths of that type. There were no weaknesses whatsoever in either one of them. Had they not fallen into sin and brought the old sin nature, which brought the weaknesses into the temperaments, their children would have been born with temperaments that had only the strengths, and none of the weaknesses. So the weaknesses that we've been referring to are not inherently part of the temperament. They are a quality which has been interjected by the fact that man fell into sin. The old sin nature came in and began distorting something beautiful that God created, just as it always does. Sin always distorts something that God has made.

Neutralizing your Weaknesses

One of the classic books written on this was by a man named Hallesby, published in the early 1960s, who was a Norwegian. It was written in Norwegian, and translated, and is a rather classical book on the temperament studies. Modern temperament studies are all, more or less, based upon his research. But one of the serious mistakes that Hallesby made was, for example, on the melancholic temperament. The melancholic temperament, as one writer said, after he got through reading Hallesby's analysis, was that if he was a melancholy, "He'd take a gun, and go out and shoot himself."

This was because he did not make allowance for the fact that while the melancholic, like all other temperaments, had some very disastrous weaknesses, and he thought they had more than others, he did not fully understand, or at least stress, that all these things can be reversed. That is, the weaknesses that are not inherent in these temperaments, but like barnacles, they have attached themselves through sin, so the things can be peeled back off. I want to stress that because the weaknesses can be reversed, and that's a happy note.

So part of the building of a spiritual maturity structure in your soul is to identify your temperament with its weaknesses, and to neutralize them through the building of a spiritual maturity structure. Non-Christian psychologists and psychiatrists do not believe there is a God. Therefore, they do not believe that there is a Holy Spirit who can neutralize the old sin nature weaknesses of these temperaments through the intake of doctrine. Consequently, they come up with an atheistic humanism that simply adapts itself to these weaknesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists really end up encouraging people to indulge their weaknesses, and saying, "This is the way you are. Just go ahead and do what comes naturally."

Sanguines and Cholerics

Melancholy Strengths

"Mr. Melancholy has by far the richest and most sensitive nature of all the temperaments. He is genius prone. That is, a higher percentage of geniuses are melancholy than any other type. He particularly excels in the fine arts with a vast appreciation for life's true values. He is emotionally responsive. But unlike the sanguine, is motivated to reflective thinking through his emotions. Mr. Melancholy is particularly adept at creative thinking, and at high emotional peaks, will often launch into an invention or creative production that is worthwhile and wholesome. Mr. Melancholy has strong perfectionist tendencies. His standard of excellence exceeds others, and his requirements of acceptability in any field are often higher than either he or anyone else can maintain. This tendency leads him into much introspection, and he often relives events and decisions made in the past, thinking how much better he would do it if given another opportunity.

"The analytical abilities of the melancholy, combined with his perfectionist tendencies, make him a hound for detail. Whenever a project is suggested by a choleric or sanguine temperament, Mr. Melancholy can analyze it in a few moments, and pick out every potential problem they will encounter. He often appears to be against things by his constant reference to potential problems, but they are real to him. This analytical ability well qualifies him for such fields as mathematics; theoretical science; diagnostic medicine; architecture; philosophy; writing; and, other exacting vocations. Those blessed with the melancholy temperament do not have to strive to be faithful. With them, it is natural. A melancholy person usually does not attract a large number of friends, as does the sanguine. But he will keep those he attracts, and would literally lay down his life for his friends.

"A melancholy person can always be depended upon to finish his job in the prescribed time, or to carry his end of the load. Mr. Melancholy rarely seeks to be in the limelight, but prefers to do the behind-the-scenes tasks. He often chooses a very sacrificial vocation for life, for he has an unusual gift to give himself to the betterment of his fellow man. Mr. Melancholy has the wonderful capacity of knowing his limitations, and so rarely takes on more than he can do. He is prone to be reserved, and rarely volunteers his opinion or ideas. When asked, however, he almost always has an opinion, and when it is offered, his answer indicates that he has analyzed the situation quite deeply, and offers an opinion well worth hearing. He does not waste words like the sanguine, but is usually very precise in stating exactly what he means."

Melancholy Weaknesses

"The self-centered traits of the melancholy temperament are superbly described by Dr. Hallesby, and for that reason, I quote his entire description. 'He is surely more self-centered than any of the other temperaments. He is inclined to that kind of self-examination, that kind of self-contemplation, which paralyzes his will and energy. He is always dissecting himself and his own mental conditions, taking off layer after layer as an onion is peeled, until there is nothing direct and artless left in his life. There is only his everlasting self-examination. This self-examination is not only unfortunate, but it is harmful.

"'Melancholies usually drift into morbid mental conditions. They are concerned not only about their spiritual state, but they are also unduly concerned about their physical condition. Everything that touches a melancholic is of prime importance to him. Hence, no other type can so easily become a hypochondriac.'"

Mr. LaHaye continues:

"This self-centered trait in the melancholy, if not corrected, can actually ruin his entire life. Combined with his sensitive nature, his self-centeredness makes it very easy for him to be offended or insulted. He literally carries his feelings on his sleeve. He is prone to be suspicious, given over to evil surmisings. If two people are talking in hushed tones, he is almost certain to jump to the conclusion that they are talking about him. This type of thinking can lead, in severe cases, to a persecution complex. Because of his perfectionist and analytical traits, Mr. Melancholy is prone to be pessimistic. He not only can see the ultimate end of a project, but, what is more real to him, all the problems that will be encountered. Many times these problems in his mind far outweigh the good accomplished in the whole endeavor. Not only that, he is sure that the end result will not be nearly as good as promised. Since he has been disappointed in the past, he is sure to be disappointed again.

"This pessimistic outlook makes him indecisive and fearful of making decisions because he doesn't want to be wrong, and fall short of his own perfectionist standards. No one can be more critical than the melancholy. He has the tendency to be unyielding in his expectations of other human beings, and cannot happily take less than their very best. Many a perfectionist has ruined a normally good marriage because his partner measured up to only 90 percent of what was expected of her. The small part of error is looked at through a magnifying glass of perfectionism, and instead of seeing all the good, he sees an amplification of the bad. This criticism, if not spoken, is often conveyed through a proud, haughty, sometimes arrogant, attitude because he looks upon people who do not share his perfection standards as being inferior.

"It should be borne in mind that he is just as critical of himself as he is of other people. When it comes to marriage, the melancholy often has the most difficult time making the decision to take the fatal plunge. He is prone to idealize a woman from a distance, and then when he gets to know her, as lovely as she may be, he finds that she is only a human being, and has her weaknesses. Many times, a melancholy will actually love the woman in spite of her weaknesses, but hesitate to marry her because of them. Dr. Hallesby states that a great many men are unmarried simply because they are melancholic. They themselves may think that they are melancholy because they're bachelors. The truth of the matter is they are probably bachelors because they are melancholy.

"No one manifests a greater mood change than does the melancholy. On occasions he will be found at high emotional peaks of exuberance. But these are usually the exception, and not the rule. More frequently, Mr. Melancholy will be found, when not energized by the Holy Spirit, to be very gloomy and depressed, or going through a period of great despair. It is his common tendency that caused Hippocrates to think of him as the black fluid type. This moodiness causes a vicious circle. Even those who like him when he is acting like himself will become annoyed or disgusted with him, when, for seemingly no reason, he is going through a gloomy period. They will consequently avoid him, and his sensitive nature will immediately pick this up and plunge him into greater depths of gloom.

"One trait alone can wreck the entire life of a melancholy person unless he turns to Jesus Christ for the joy and peace that He alone can give. The moodiness is often the result of his self-centered thinking pattern, which must be changed to produce a healthy mind, and make it possible for his rich and capable nature to produce its maximum potential. The gloomy moods of Mr. Melancholy often lead him into a habit of escaping present reality through the practice of daydreaming. Because he is so dissatisfied with the imperfect present, he has a tendency to look back on the past, which becomes more pleasant the farther it gets from him. When he tires of thinking of the past, he dreams of the wonderful future. This type of thinking that lets him escape from reality is most dangerous indeed. It not only paralyzes his will and energy, but can lead to schizophrenia.

"A melancholy person should earnestly seek the Holy Spirit's help in getting his eyes up off himself and onto the whitened harvest field of needy people around him. One of the most dynamic illustrations of the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is to see a gloomy, moody, melancholy person transformed by God's grace and armed with the Great Commission, so that he has a lofty purpose for living that directs his conscious thinking toward others rather than himself.

"Another characteristic of the melancholy temperament is that he is prone to be revengeful. In himself, he finds it very difficult to forgive an affront or an insult. Although he appears on the surface to be calm or quiet, many times there is turbulent hatred and animosity burning within. He may never put it into action, as would a choleric, but he may harbor his animosity and desire for revenge for many years. This unforgiving spirit, and seeking for revenge, sometimes outweighs his brilliant deductive ability, and causes him to make decisions on the basis of prejudice. He may seek to destroy a very worthwhile project with which he is basically in agreement, merely because the person leading the project has, at some time in the past, offended him. Although he does not generally erupt into violent anger, if animosity is harbored long enough, it may cause him to lose complete control of himself in a fit of rage.

"Now that we have seen both the strengths and weaknesses of the melancholy temperament, our attention is drawn to an interesting fact. The temperament with the greatest strengths and potential is also accompanied by what seems to be the largest of potential weaknesses. This may account for personal observation that there are very few average melancholies. That is, a melancholy person will utilize his strengths to the point that he stands above his fellows. Or he will be dominated by his weaknesses, and sink beneath the level of his fellows, giving himself over to becoming a neurotic; disconsolate; or, hypochondriac type of individual that neither enjoys himself nor is enjoyed by others."

"Melancholy people should take consolation in the fact that many of the most outstanding men in the Bible were predominantly melancholy. The success, however, of these men was that they believed God. Faith in Christ lifts a person beyond his own temperament to the point that he lives the new life in Christ Jesus. The primary needs of the melancholy life are: love; joy; peace; goodness; faith; and, self-control. The melancholy is characterized by artists; musicians; inventors; philosophers; professors; and, educators."

Phlegmatic Strengths

"The unexcited good humor of the phlegmatic keeps him from being intensely involved with life and things, so that he can often see humor in the most mundane experiences. His dry sense of humor evokes peals of laughter from others. He seems to have a superb inborn sense of timing in the art of humor, and a stimulating imagination. He is highly qualified by nature to be a counselor. His slow, easygoing manner makes it easy for him to listen, whereas the sanguine and choleric temperaments find it difficult to sit still long enough to hear the heartaches of others. He also has the ability to keep from identifying himself with the person. Therefore, he can be objective. He does not blurt out his advice, but gives thoughtful counsel well worth hearing.

"Mr. Phlegmatic is dependability itself. Not only can he be depended upon to always be his cheerful, good-natured self, but he can be depended upon to fulfil his obligations and time schedules. Like the melancholy, he is a very faithful friend. Although he does not get too involved with others, he rarely proves disloyal.

"Mr. Phlegmatic is also practical and efficient. He conserves his own energy by thinking. Thus, he early develops his capabilities to analyze the situation. Since he is not emotionally stimulated to make sudden decisions, he has a tendency to find the practical way to accomplish an objective with the least amount of effort. He works well under pressure. In fact, he often does his best work under circumstances that would cause other temperaments to crack. His work always bears the hallmark of neatness and efficiency. Although he is not a perfectionist, he does have exceptionally high standards of accuracy and precision. The neatness of his desktop in the midst of a great project is always a source of amazement to the more active temperaments. But he has just found that putting everything in its exact spot is much easier and less time consuming in the long run. Therefore, he is a man of orderly habits."

Phlegmatic Weaknesses

"The outstanding weakness of Mr. Phlegmatic is that he is prone to be slow and lazy. He often appears to be dragging his feet because he resents having been stimulated to action against his will. So he just goes along just as slowly as he can. His lack of motivation tends to make him a spectator in life, and produces the inclination to do as little as necessary. This characteristic keeps him from initiating many of the projects that he is thinking about, and very capable of executing. But to him, they just seem too much work. The restlessness of the sanguine and the activity of the choleric often annoy him, because he is afraid they may motivate him to work. Because of his keen sense of humor and his ability to be a detached observer, he finds it easy to use his witty ability to tease others and annoy them, or threaten to motivate them.

"Dr. Hallesby has said in this regard, 'If the sanguine person enters warm and enthusiastic, the phlegmatic person becomes cold as ice.' If the melancholy comes pessimistic and lamenting the miseries of the world, the phlegmatic becomes more optimistic than ever, and teases him beyond endurance. If a choleric enters, brimful of his plans and projects, it is an exquisite pleasure for the phlegmatic to throw cold water on his enthusiasm, and with his levelheadedness and keen understanding, it is an easy matter for him to point out the weaknesses of the choleric's proposition. If he chooses, he can even use his humor and wit as a decisive tool to get others all stirred up and angry, while he himself never loses his composure and becomes excited.

"Mr. Phlegmatic often exhibits the weakness of selfishness. This trait often becomes more apparent through the years, for he learns to protect himself. He frequently finds himself in stubborn opposition to a change of any kind. His reason is that it will get him too involved. He wants to be conservative, particularly in conserving his own energies. As he matures, he can often learn to disguise his stubbornness through his easygoing good humor, while becoming even more stubborn. Each time he is forced by the activity of others into projects and activities that turn out poorly, he becomes even more resistive to future suggestions. This stubbornness has a tendency also to make him stingy and selfish, for his first thought usually is, "What is this going to cost me," or "What will this take out of me?"

"Although selfishness is a basic weakness of all four temperaments, Mr. Phlegmatic is probably cursed with the heaviest dose. Mr. Phlegmatic often becomes more indecisive through the years – caused basically by his reticence to become involved. His practical insight and calm analytical ability can usually find a better method for doing something. But by the time he comes up with it, one of the activists already has the group moving on their program. Therefore, he only half-heartedly enters in, in proportion to what he feels is required of him, because down in his heart, he feels his plan is better.

"Another thing that makes him indecisive is that, even though he can analyze the situation and come to a practical method for achieving it, he will often weigh the method against whether or not he wants to get that involved. Thus, he is prone to vacillate between wanting to do something and not wanting to pay the price. This indecisive practice can soon become a deep-rooted habit that outweighs his naturally practical turn of mind. The phlegmatics make good diplomats; accountants; teachers; technicians; scientists; and, doctors."

Comparing the Temperaments to One Another

"The hard-driving choleric produces the inventions of the genius-prone melancholy, which are sold by the personable sanguine, and enjoyed by the easygoing phlegmatic."

As to a comparison of the weaknesses of these four types: "The sanguine type enjoys people and then forgets them. The melancholic is annoyed with people, but lets them go their crooked ways. The choleric makes use of people for his own benefit. Afterwards, he ignores them. The phlegmatic studies people with supercilious indifference."

So that's a pretty good summary, and I think it will give you a pretty clear picture of these types. Of course, our concern is, "How do we change this?" The weaknesses are there. How do we deal with these temperaments? Then we're going to tell you how to spot yourself.

The Transformed Sanguine

He talks as much as he did before he was saved, but the language now is free from profanity and obscenity. He's still the source of humor at social gatherings, but his humor is no longer dirty, nor is it cruel, making someone the brunt of a joke. He still enters into the feelings of people, but now he enters into those feelings with some divine viewpoint understanding so that he directs them to the Word of God. His weak will that characterizes him now refuses to go along with the crowd, or to take the path of least resistance, because he has developed the breastplate of righteousness through his spiritual maturity structure. Therefore, he prefers to do what is right rather than, as once before, he preferred to go along with the crowd. He becomes responsible for what he promises to do. The reason for this is that he becomes more practical and organized so that he is more productive, and he starts coming to things on time. One of the characteristics of the sanguine is that he can never get any place on time.

He avoids tempting his propensity for sexual lust, so he maintains moral stability. In other words, he exercises a restraint upon himself in this respect, which is a particular threat to the sanguine type, which he did not before. His restless nature and his outbursts of anger are now controlled by understanding that the battle is the Lord's, so he comes to peace within himself. He just relaxes. His egocentric quality, which is so strong, is changed by a genuine humility, so that he is no longer the braggart that he once was, but he considers what others do; he looks upon the things of others; and, he thinks about the things of others. The sanguine can be a totally different, marvelous person once the spiritual maturity structure does its work.

The Transformed Choleric

His sarcastic superiority is tempered into an understanding and a patience toward people, so that he exercises a kindness toward their frailties. His proud self-sufficiency is changed into a spirit of meekness and humility. He learns that he is dependent upon the Lord rather than his own craftiness.

Instead of people fearing him, he actually becomes someone that people have an affection for and that they respect. His tendency to be brusque and crude turns into genuine graciousness, courtesy, and refinement. His hot-tempered disposition and his inclination to carry a grudge are reversed into patience and into a forgiving attitude. His impetuous decisiveness, his making a decision on an impetuous moment of instinct is now changed to waiting upon the Lord rather than ramming an idea through. Success, instead of making him arrogant, as it did in the past (and he enjoys a lot of success), and instead of making him domineering and self-confident, causes him to give glory to the Lord, and thus he avoids becoming as obnoxious and boring to people as he once was. The choleric makes the magnificent leader type, particularly when the weaknesses can be phased out.

The Transformed Melancholy

His great capacity to love people enables him to become a determined Christian witness. He's the kind who will not abandon the prospect, but will pursue him both with the gospel and with divine viewpoint understanding when the other temperaments will abandon the prospect. His inclination to self-centeredness will be changed by his occupation with Christ. He gets his eyes off himself, so he's able to be involved with others. He stops being easily offended and easily insulted. He realizes that God does not get things done through his perfectionism, but that God gets things done through his being available for the Lord's service. Therefore, he does his best as unto the Lord, and he leaves it with the Lord. That's a great step forward for the melancholic type when he realizes that it is not his perfectionism that God uses. It is his availability to God.

His inclination to pessimism, which so plagues him, will be changed by viewing things through the power of God with whom all things are possible. He becomes a person of faith and of expectation rather than of pessimism. His natural moodiness is stabilized by the inner happiness quality of the spiritual maturity structure which he has built in his soul. He avoids depression in this way, through the filling of the Spirit, and through going on to a stabilized position without anger and without self-pity. His natural tendency to harbor animosity and his desire for revenge (which makes it hard to forgive an offense) is changed into an inner relaxed peace, so that he does not hold grudges.

The Transformed Phlegmatic

The lack of motivation and the indifference which characterizes the phlegmatic will be changed by vision from the Holy Spirit to make him a participant. He takes on things for the Lord's sake now. His natural reticence and his fear is changed by confidence which the Spirit of God gives him. He's drawn out of his shell, and can actually become a leader. The biting humor is changed to an influence of cheer and encouragement to others. He stops teasing. He stops throwing cold water.

His inhibitions in dealing with people are lost through this desire to witness for Christ. When he does witness (when he does speak), a phlegmatic, while being reticent to get up and say things in front of people, when he does, his thoughts are generally so well thought out and so logical, that his remarks are impressively forceful.

His natural inclination to be dependable and efficient is greatly used by the Spirit of God, and he receives great opportunities for using them. His tendency to extreme selfishness is replaced by a generous spirit motivated by the needs of others. The stubborn quality which is borne of that desire not to get involved (that so characterizes the phlegmatic to protect himself from involvement) is changed to cooperative yieldedness to God's plans, and he is willing to pay the price that he was not before.

You can probably spot right there that many of us have a streak of the phlegmatic in us – this inclination not to get involved. Somebody calls you on the phone and says, "Hello. What are you doing today?" And right away he hears the phlegmatic streak come through. "Why? What do you want?" You could have said, "I'm not doing a thing. I'm just sitting here watching old television programs." But the phlegmatic streak protects itself against getting involved.

Identifying your Temperament

1. It is easiest to determine your own particular temperament between the ages of 15 to 35. After 35 years of age, it becomes less pronounced. Experience begins knocking the edges off your weaknesses, and you begin to find some adaptability by the sheer fact of having lived a while. Until you come to the age of 15, you haven't really matured to an identifiable personality.
   
   
2. You identify your strengths first. In these lists that we have made, do not look at the weaknesses. Look only at the good things. Identify all the things that are fine, wonderful, and good about you – all the noble qualities that you can see that characterize yourself. You can be more objective and truthful to yourself about those. Then after you've identified the qualities, you will see what temperament these qualities fall in. Then look at the weaknesses. A lot of people, when they look at the weaknesses, change their mind about those particular qualities, and being in that particular temperament. Therefore, don't look at the weaknesses. Look at the strengths first.
   
   
3. Remember that no one has a single temperament type. You're the mixture of at least two, though one will be dominant. You might even be the kind of a person that's kind of balanced between all four temperaments, and then it will be very difficult to identify yourself, because you have balanced yourself out, one against another. No one is a single temperament type.
   
   
4. Temperaments of parents and grandparents are clues to one's own inherited temperament. That's where you receive your temperament. So the temperaments of your parents will give you a clue to anticipate what you will be in large measure. Your grandparents will also contribute to that identification.
   
   
5. Certain childhood training sometimes obscures one's real temperament. Certain qualities in your environment, and the way you were reared, will inhibit expressions of your temperament. Until the inhibitions are removed, it will be hard to spot the fact that you are of this temperament type.
   
   
6. Also, physical conditions may affect one's temperament, making it harder to spot. You may be more or less active than you really by temperament are, simply because you may have a physical problem – a physical ailment that's changing your normal expressions.
   
   
7. The more advanced one's spiritual maturity structure is toward super grace living, the harder it is to identify basic temperament weaknesses. That should be self-evident. The farther you go toward spiritual maturity, the more the weaknesses have been neutralized, and therefore, the harder it will be to identify these temperaments.

   The exact percentage of each temperament which one possesses cannot be determined very readily. So you can maybe come up with some percentages that you're so much this and so much this, but it's really hard to do that.

Cautions about Determining Temperaments

1. No temperament is more desirable than any other. All are in God's plan for our blessing. The one you have is in God's particular plan for you.
   
   
2. God's sovereignty has determined your temperament to meet His plan for your life. You were born in a certain family to get a certain temperament to perform a certain plan that God has for you.
   
   
3. The analysis of temperaments is to be used to relate better to a person, and to understand yourself properly. They're not to be used to hurt someone. So don't go around and see something that somebody does, and say, "Oh, yeah, boy, you can spot that phlegmatic every time." That isn't the point of this study. The point is personal: your relationship to people; and, your understanding of yourself.
   
   
4. Temperament inclines one to a pattern of behavior which in time hardens into a habit.
   
   
5. Temperament weaknesses can be neutralized by the filling of the Holy Spirit, and the development of a spiritual maturity structure in the soul. The pinnacle is reached at the super grace level.
   
   
6. Temperament weaknesses can explain one's behavior, but they cannot be used as an excuse for it. So don't say, "Well, I'm the sanguine type. I just never finish anything." You cannot use your temperament type as an excuse.
   
   
7. All these strengths in every temperament are stronger in some people than in others. However, you will find that the greater your strengths are, also the greater the weaknesses of that particular temperament type are. So be on your guard.
   
   
8. Wishing for another temperament is not the solution for objectionable weaknesses, but building a spiritual maturity structure to super grace level will neutralize those weaknesses.

I must point out that if you didn't know anything about what you've heard in the past couple of sessions, and if you didn't know a thing about temperaments, but if you followed what Philippians 4:8-9 gives in the principles of programming your thinking and programming your experience, you would come out to the same place of removing weaknesses from your temperaments. So it's not all that hard. If you didn't know these things, but if you followed the pattern of Scripture on focusing upon divine viewpoint thinking and practicing divine viewpoint actions, you would come out with the same results. Knowing the temperaments will help you to guide yourself more specifically in the corrections, and in being on guard as to where Satan can get out. The weaknesses were put there by the devil. The weaknesses are where Satan is going to hit you. He's not going to hit you in your strengths. He's going to get you on the weaknesses that have been attached to your particular splendid temperament type.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1973

Back to the Advanced Bible Doctrine (Philippians) index