Understanding Human Behavior
Understanding is key! It is helpful for each of us to infuse understanding in our relationships. For example, Peter writes, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge…” (1 Peter 3:7). The ESV reads, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way…” To accomplish a sense of understanding requires effort.
Creation Therapy teaches there are three building blocks to humanity: temperament, character, and personality.
Temperament: God creates this first building block. At the point of conception, God places the temperament He desires within us allowing us to carry out the plan He has for us (Jeremiah 1:5). Temperament is the inherent part of an individual that determines how they react to people, places and things.
Character: This second building block is affected by people and the environment. This process of the development of character begins at birth. The overwhelming majority of a person’s character develops in the first few years of life. The environment is an accumulation of the five senses. What results slightly alters our temperament thereby forming one’s character.
Personality: The third building block is that we are self-selected. We refer to this as personality, which shows up in the way we perceive how we must act or behave to survive in our world. Personality may or may not be part of our temperament or character. Many times, the personality is a mask, which cannot be worn all the time and generally comes off in the home. The further away the personality (man created) is from the temperament (God created) the more stress, anxiety, etc. is present in one’s life.
Knowing your temperament goes a long way to helping understand human behavior. Before you can understand another, it helps to have a solid understanding of yourself. Determining your temperament is not a simple process.
At DayStar Ministries, I use an assessment, which scientifically determines the temperament with a high rate of accuracy (93%). DayStar Ministries provides a variety of pastoral counseling services for Apostolics by Apostolics. Pastors and church leaders report an increase in their effectiveness after counseling with DayStar Ministries. Contact me for more information.