Personality and How It is Formed

As Schultz & Schultz state, “we all have one” – a personality, that is. There are many ideas and theories about how a person’s personality is formed. As Christians, our understanding of personality and identity formation may go deeper still.

To begin with, “personality can be defined as an enduring, unique cluster of characteristics that may change in different situations”. This is our behaviors, our temperament, and how we interact with those around us in a variety of ways and settings. Personality development may also be influenced by a person’s culture, gender, and even ethnicity. With the onset of social media, personality may be influenced by how a person interacts online. However, one other factor may come into play for Christians – a person’s faith and/or their personal relationship with God may also help shape personality.

Continuing, for those who possess a deep faith, which would include a personal relationship with God, this fourth factor may be the most important factor in determining a person’s personality. As such, those who are seeking after a true personal relationship with God may find their carnal personality being transformed by the power of Truth of God’s Word. Paul alludes to this transformation saying, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, New International Version). The way this transformation takes place is through the “washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26, NIV). An example of this type of transformation is well-illustrated in my grandparents’ lives. My grandfather was a self-proclaimed atheist when he married my grandmother. My grandmother, on the other hand, sought after the Lord from the young age of seven. She would walk seven blocks to church by herself every Sunday. By the time she married my grandfather, she still had this pull towards the Church, and would take my mother and my aunt with her as often as she could. Every Sunday morning, my grandfather would sit in his chair smoking a cigarette and drinking alcohol and reading the Bible trying to prove that God did not exist as my grandmother went off to church. However, in the 1970’s, he had a radical encounter with God at a tent revival and accepted Christ as his Savior. A couple of years later, he and my grandmother started pastoring their own church where they grew a congregation of well over 120 people each week in their small town. He became one of the most beloved pastors in their community until his death in March 2003.

My grandfather’s story is not unique, as I have witnessed this many times over. It seems that once a person seeks after God’s ways and are washed in God’s Word, their lives and personalities are transformed. In looking at identity formation in young adults, one study suggested “religion provides an important context through which young adults are able to develop their identity” and that “theory has proposed that Belief in God is a specific aspect of religion that may play a significant role in the identity development process”. Additionally, another article sought to assist the reader in finding their identity in who God says they are instead of their own perceptions of who they are. The author quotes David Benner, a psychologist and author of the book “The Gift of Being Yourself,” as saying “an identity grounded in God would mean that when we think of who we are, the first thing that would come to mind is our status as someone who is deeply loved by God” (Crutchfield, n.d., para. 7). Once a person is reminded of this vastly important truth, it changes our beliefs about ourselves:

It frees us up to live confidently and stably instead of changing who we are based on the opinions of others, our professional success, how we see ourselves, and all the other ways we define our significance. It gives us the opportunity to experience God’s unconditional love in new and fresh ways. And it allows us to confidently and boldly share His love with others.

The truth of this is evident in scripture as the disciples were transformed into lions of the faith who built the church and faced persecution and martyrdom all the way to the present where people truly transform due to their faith in the God who heals personalities and unveils identities as we seek after Him.

In conclusion, those who write the psychology books may have their varying theories of how personality is formed based on many years of research. However, Christians should not forget that possessing faith in God and seeking after His Truth are sure to change us as we become transformed by that Truth. Therefore, many factors contribute to personality and identity formation, but having a personal relationship with God should also be considered in personality development.