I pulled this rather large list of Choleric personality traits from the internet the other day:
Your personality strengths:
You are a born leader, dynamic and active and have a compulsive need for change. You often feel that you must correct wrongs. You are strong-willed and decisive, independent and self-sufficient. You are not easily discouraged and can be unemotional when necessary.
You are capable of running anything and exude confidence. You are an expert in exerting sound leadership, establishing goals and able to motivate the family in to action. You always know the right answer and organize the household. You are very goal oriented, see the whole picture and organize well. You seek practical solutions to problems and move quickly to action.
You delegate work but insist on productivity. You make the goals, stimulate activity and thrive on opposition.
You have little need for friends and will work for group activity. You often lead from the front, organize and are usually right. You excel during emergencies.
Your personality weaknesses:
You can be bossy and impatient. You are quick tempered, can't relax and can be too impetuous.
You enjoy controversy and arguments and won't give up when losing.You can come on too strong, are inflexible and uncomplimentary. You dislike tears and emotions and are generally unsympathetic.You tend to over dominate, are too busy for your family and will often give answers too quickly. You are impatient with poor performance and won't let children relax if you have any. You are likely to send them in to depression. You have little tolerance for mistakes, however, you don't analyze details yourself, are bored by trivia and can often make rash decisions.You can be rude and tactless and often manipulate people.
You are demanding of others and believe that the end justifies the means. Work may become the driving force in your life and you demand loyalty in the ranks. You tend to use people and dominate others. You make decisions on other people's behalf and you know everything. You can do everything better, are too independent and are overly possessive of friends and mate. You can't say your sorry and, although you may of ten be right, you can become unpopular.
If you're Choleric, you probably puffed up as you read the first list and sunk down in your chair when you read the second list. That's okay - don't get discouraged. Every personality type has these lists to go along with them. Every personality type has good points and bad points. Only your underlying character can determine which list will be more obvious in your life!
What do I mean by character?
Ok, it will be important to define this word as I plan to use it. To me, character is an internal "me" that becomes obvious to the people around me as they get to know me. It is not just the "mask" of me that I may want them to see. It is what will show up eventually, sort of the "baseline" me. The me that will show up under stress.
It is generally accepted that a person with good character can be trusted to do the right thing in all situations. A person with bad character can only be trusted to do what is right for them most times.
Someone with balanced character then would be a person who is pretty much the same under stress that they are on a good day. What you see is what you get. On the other hand, unbalanced character would be revealed in a person who is one way when things are going well, and another way when things get heated up. The stress of a situation brings out the poor character. That is when we see the weaknesses of our personality popping up.
Where does poor character come from?
We have been born into a fallen world. We have been raised by imperfect parents, taught by imperfect teachers, influenced by imperfect friends and family. We live in a culture that calls right wrong and wrong right. All of this contributes to an unbalanced character. Depending on the level of dysfunction in a person's life, they may have huge gaps in their character that desperately need filling!
So, am I just stuck with a poor or unbalanced character?
No! Absolutely not! The good news is that God is in the character building business!
If you are Choleric like me, and the weaknesses list has you pinned to the floor, don't crawl under the bed and feel bad about yourself! Just realize that there are some areas of your character that need development so that when you are under stress, you will be able to display the same quality traits that you would on a good day!
This is not something you can do all on your own. You need to call on your Father in heaven and ask Him to mold you into the person that He has called you to be. The Bible says that we are being changed by the power of God:
Ephesians 3:14-21:
When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan,
I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources
he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever
and ever through endless ages. Amen.
Take heart from this passage of scripture and know that God is at work in you! But, do not just sit back and expect God to do all the hard work either! Paul encouraged us to strive to bring our lives into agreement with the Gospel.
Philippians 1:27-30
"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel"
Determine today that you will put good, balanced character development up at the top of your priority list!
