OWENSBORO, KY – “I am so stressed out,” a client once told me. “I love ministry. I love preaching and teaching people about God’s Word. But it is exhausting.”
This client, a seminary student, was in a situation many of us have found ourselves in. “I really love the calling to share the Gospel with people,” he said, “But I really don’t like having to talk to them afterwards.”
Like us, what this young man didn’t realize is that he was acting a certain way because of the personality mask he created, and he wasn’t acting the way God created him to be.
Has God called him to share the Word? Absolutely. Is he supposed to share that message with others? I certainly believe so. But he thought that because he grew up in a family full of extroverts he thought he had to be one too. He thought that he had to put on a show and be happy-go-lucky to everyone, all the time. This left him asking, “Who am I?” That was, until he learned something:
It was time to take of the mask.
A lot of us try to live by and out of our personality. This personality or mask that we put on for the world likely isn’t who we are. Usually, it’s the facade that we put on for people. What if, instead, we begin acting in the way that we really are?
Well, Zakk, that sounds like an interesting concept. But how in the world am I supposed to do that?
I’m so glad you asked.
Through the gift of Temperament, an understanding of how God created us, including why we feel the way we do, why we react to situations the way we do, and why we do or don’t care about others’ opinions of us.
The Sarasota Academy of Christian Counseling develops the APS Temperament report.
According to the Sarasota Academy of Christian Counselors, the organization responsible for the APS Temperament theory and process, knowing your Temperament has several benefits, including:
- Identify what causes relationship conflicts and how to resolve them
- The secrets of human behavior and how God’s wonderful plan works when understood and applied
- A successful five-step method for counseling those who turn to them for help
Through understanding your Temperament, you’ll learn how to apply these principles to your life and learn how to take off the mask. With this knowledge, it gives you the freedom to operate in the way God created you to be while giving you an understanding of your true self. And you don’t have to be a pastor or seminary student to benefit.
Stop living in anxiety. Stop living in the fear of not being good enough. Stop trying to live up to others’ expectations. Don’t feel that you have to go on any longer living in the way others expect of you if it’s not who you really are.