Adapted from the great Christian book “Choose Joy” by Kay Warren. Fantastic
insights by this dear lady!
“I was watching ‘Winnie-the-Pooh” with my children years ago when it hit me:
my husband is just like TIGGER! That launched me into assigning characters
to other people I know, and the Winnie-the-Pooh School of Personalities was
born. Let’s take a light-hearted look at four basic personality types:
Winnie-the-Pooh doesn’t get worked up about much of anything. He’s pretty
care-free, and middle-of-the-road in his emotional responses. He has a hard
time making decisions. He remains steady and dependable while others are
spinning wildly out of control!
Then there’s Rabbit. He is goal-oriented; he wants things done right —
right NOW! He is organized and neat. He is impatient with anyone who won’t
“Hop to it!”
Tiggers are extroverts – bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncey – having fun,
fun, and more fun! He may be having so much fun elsewhere that he forgets
to meet you for lunch; but you have so much fun when he finally arrives that
you forgive him.
You know which personality is left: Eeyore. He is creative, intense,
perfectionistic and pessimistic. He can certainly be gloomy at times. But
if you want a sympathetic ear, Eeyore’s your donkey!
It’s easy to look at one of the other personalities and think, “Well, of
course I could be joyful if I was like Tigger or as care-free as
Winnie-the-Pooh!” BUT each of these personality types has WEAKNESSES along
with their strengths, too.
Winnie-the-Pooh can become a little smug and take great pride in the fact
that HE can walk calmly through life while others are embroiled in life’s
problems. Why would he need GOD for joy?
Tigger can have a tendency to depend on the force of his own personality
rather than the SPIRIT of GOD.
Rabbit tends to find joy in checking items off his to-do list INSTEAD of
finding joy in the LORD. He confuses DOING with BEING.
Eeyore probably faces the greatest challenge when it comes to purposely
choosing joy because his natural bent is NOT to be joyful. But perhaps he,
then, is the most likely TO realize that GOD is the only True Source OF Joy!
NO personality has either an edge OR an excuse when it comes to experiencing
joy. It is easy to become a prisoner of your own personality type. Over
time we can develop more loyalty to our personality than we have to our God
and His COMMAND to choose JOY.
So if you are using your personality type as an excuse for NOT experiencing
godly joy on a daily basis – STOP! If you are hiding behind your
personality spiritually – STOP!
CHOOSING JOY – apart from our emotions, our troubles, or our human
inclinations – IS possible. GOD is the Only True Source of JOY! Joy is one
of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is intended for ALL personalities at
ALL times! But you have to CHOOSE to accept the gift and USE it. . .”
Kay honed a wonderful definition of JOY: “JOY is the settled assurance that
God IS in control of ALL the details of my life, the quiet confidence that
ultimately everything IS going to be all right, and the determined CHOICE to
praise God in ALL things.”
She quotes James 1:2-4 from a modern translation: “Friends, consider it a
JOY, a sheer gift, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.
You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced out into the open
and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.
Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in
any way!”
CHOOSE JOY!
~~
Personal Note: Amid chuckles while reading and applying this comical
chapter, Teresa realized Pastor Bob did NOT seem to fit very well into ANY
of the “Winnie-the-Pooh Personalities”. After some discussion, he finally
admitted HE identifies with the character of Christopher Robin the best
instead. Yup, he IS certainly in a category of his own!!!!!
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”