The Christian's Personality
Many people today are seeking after various methods of improving their personalities. There are many books available on such topics as winning friends or influencing people, and one sees much advertising which features methods whereby dull people can become the life of the party, or wallflowers can win the hero of the neighborhood. These things would be more amusing were it not for the fact that many Christians follow this worldly lead and ape the earth-dwellers in their seeking for personality development.
There is a great Biblical doctrine, a doctrine which is right along this same line, which is often overlooked by many who should know better. That fact is that the Holy Spirit was given by God to take possession of the life and individuality of the believer, and to express His divine personality, or one small aspect of it, through the believer's life and personality. Let us approach this truth by the backdoor. The Bible tells of men who were possessed by demons whose lives expressed the identity of those demons. Anyone who approached these poor, stricken creatures could be immediately aware of the sinister personality controlling and dominating the stricken being. There are several descriptions found in the Gospels which show these personalities manifesting themselves in men: "exceeding fierce" (Matt. 8:28), "dumb" (Matt. 9:32), "lunatic" (Matt. 17:15), "unclean" (Mark 1:23), "crying" (Mark 5:5), "pining away" (Mark 9:18), a nudist (Luke 8:27), and other delineations of character which ceased with the departure of the demon.
If the presence of a demon in the life of a man could so alter his identity, covering the true human personality and exhibiting the demon personality, how much more shall the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a believer dominate his personality by expressing the personality of God in the life of the yielded believer? Here is a clue to the inner meaning of the great verse: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self- control" (Gal. 5:22). You can't duplicate that by consulting a psychiatrist or by reading a book on self-expression. At times we meet people who, judged by the world's standards, are fearfully drab and colorless, lacking in what the world calls personality. Yet we note in many instances the definite marks of the presence of the Holy Spirit in that life. There is a warmth and tenderness towards life and its problems, a love and devotion not to be found in the selfish world, a color and life easily visible to the discerning eye. When we think of what these people would be without the presence of the Lord within them, we can glorify God in them. Let the Holy Spirit take hold of your personality.
1. What is the role of the Holy Spirit?
2. Can the Holy Spirit speak to my heart? If so, how does he do so? Why does he speak to our heart?
3. How does the Holy Spirit affirm or convict our behavior and thoughts?
