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I  have a new-found appreciation for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It’s those four letters (e.g., ENFP) often associated with a person’s personality type.

With it comes a surprisingly freaky wealth of knowledge about a person useful in so many different relational contexts.

• Work
• Husband/wife (or boyfriend/girlfriend)
• Family
• Friends
• Your understanding of yourself

Here’s a real brief introduction to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and what each of the four letter-pairs mean.

As you follow along I encourage you to figure out which letter best describes you in each pairing. Afterward, I link to a couple MBTI tests you can take to confirm your own evaluation.

Once you’ve determined your personality type, do a Google search of your four letters (e.g., ISTJ) and read some of the descriptions. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much can be gleaned about you from those four letters.

Extrovert (E) or Introvert (I)

Where do you draw the most energy from?

Extrovert (E)	Introvert (I)
Act first, then reflect	Reflect first, then act
Breadth of knowledge/influence	Depth of knowledge/influence
Recharge with people time	Recharge with alone time

Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)

How do you gather, understand and interpret information?

Sensing (S)	Intuition (N)
Prefer concrete and tangible info	Prefer ideas and theories
Trust data and facts	Trust gut-feelings and intuition
Hands-on, like details and specifics	Big picture, see future and possibilities

 Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)

How do you approach decision-making?

Thinking (T)	Feeling (F)
Look at reason, logic, facts	Strive for balance, harmony, consensus
Detached from people, more objective	Sensitive to people, more empathetic
Comfortable with conflict	Uncomfortable with conflict

Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

Not going to lie, this one is still confusing to me. While I could explain the theory behind it, I don’t know how to give you the easy-to-understand one-liner.

So just refer to the table. ;)

Judging (J)	Perceiving (P)
Plan beforehand	Plan as-you-go
Structured, scheduled, ordered	Flexible, spontaneous, adaptive
Have matters settled	Keep decisions open

Where to Take an Online Personality Test

• Jung Typology Test
• Jung Personality Test

I would recommend you take both tests. It will help determine which (if any) letter pairings could go either way. For example, if you take one test and you come up ESTJ and the other shows ISTJ, then there’s a strong chance your E/I pairing is fairly balanced.

In that case, look up the description for both and see which fits you more closely.

As extra credit, try to determine the personality types of some of the people close to you. Read their descriptions. Any light bulb moments? Do you see how differences in your personality types have/could cause tension?

So, what’s your personality type (let me know in the comments)!?

I’m an ISTJ.

1 Samuel 14:6-7 (NIV)
⁶ Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷ “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

They follow you into battle.

Exodus 17:11-12 (NIV)
¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.

They support you when you get tired.

1 Samuel 20:4 (NIV)
⁴ Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

They “do” . . . no questions asked.

Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)
¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They will stand with you in the midst of persecution, trials and temptations.

Ruth 1:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

They are always by your side.

John 15:13 (NIV)
¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Romans 5:8 (NIV)
⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

They would die for you.

Isaiah 49:4 (NIV)
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”

Romans 14:8 (NIV)
If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

These are some serious verses on being content in Christ.

What are some ways we can increase our capacity to be content in God?

Delayed obedience is disobedience. Partial obedience is disobedience.

Have you heard those before?

But what about disobedience through a lack of asking?

It’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking our lives are in obedience to God when, in all honesty, we’ve never asked God what he wants from us.

A prime example, when I felt called to pursue full-time ministry, the internship at my church was an easy step in the right direction. But I neglected to pray about it. I didn’t want to ask God if that’s what he wanted for me because I was afraid of the answer.

How often do we fail to pray because of fear?

Afraid what God may say. Afraid where he may lead us. Afraid of the sacrifice.

What does God want from you? How does God want you to influence your generation and generations to come?

Ask Him.

(Six months later, I finally did ask God about the internship. He said go. I went and my life has been forever changed because of that prayer/decision.)

Better to walk in fearful obedience than ignorant disobedience.

As I pondered what I was going to write about this week . . . I decided to document the various money-related God testimonies I’ve experienced personally.

Each has taught me to hold less tightly to money and give it more freely.

Giving, getting and multiplying

I received a $1000 year-end bonus from work around the time of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Ever since I was a little boy, I always preferred to save money rather than spend it, so I had every intention of putting the money in the bank.

But in my prayer time, I felt God leading me to donate the money to the tsunami relief efforts.

Doing what any obedient Christian does, I waited a couple days to make sure God was really speaking to me. ;)

Sure enough, God continued to press me to give the money.

Sometimes I don’t always hear God correctly, so I gave it a few more days. By this time, Sunday rolled around and I was in church.

I remember being in service near one of the support poles in the sanctuary. I was on the front row towards the right side of the stage worshiping when God dropped the hammer. It was as undeniable as it could be that God wanted me to give the money.

There were no more excuses, no wiggling myself out.

I knew the company I worked for at the time was planning on contributing to the relief efforts, so I went into work the next morning, walked into the president’s office and put the check on his desk explaining I wanted it as part of the company’s relief contribution.

That was that. I went about my day.

Later on in the afternoon my immediate boss walks by my desk and gives me back my check.

His response . . . he was praying and felt like God told him someone was going to do what I just did and in response, he (my boss) should give back the money (to me) and donate twice the amount ($2000).

So not only did I get my money back, but twice the amount was given instead.

Obedience wins.

Raising $12,000 without a job

I’ve already documented that testimony.

It happens to involve the same company as the testimony above. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to work for that company knowing they honored God.

Their contributions made a significant impact to where I am at now in life and ministry. Giving changes lives.

I gave extravagantly, but nothing happened. What the crap?

This is not so much a testimony but a reminder.

I once gave a large sum of money because, again, I felt like God was leading me to bold, extravagant giving towards a cause I believed in: building the local church.

It was a stressful check to write. But I did it without hesitation.

I can’t help but think the $1000 testimony earlier was a lesson preparing me for that moment.

Unlike before though, there was no immediate return. As far as I can tell, God never “returned the favor.”

The reminder is that we don’t give to get, we give out of obedience. When we give towards God’s kingdom, we are content knowing there’s an eternal return. It’s not always an earthly, monetary return. And that’s okay . . .

Tithing in faith, off zero income

The last time I was between jobs, it was a time/season where God was doing a lot in my life. He was stirring the waters, turning my comfortable life into an uncomfortable one.

It was an ambiguous time where I didn’t know for sure what the next season would hold; both professionally/in ministry and financially.

I left the job without another job lined up. In fact, I had actually turned down an offer cause I knew it wasn’t what God had for me. It would have been too easy and would’ve been too comfortable.

During that time, I decided to take a step of faith and give my tithe for the month of February even though I didn’t have a job and was making zero money.

It was my way of saying “God, I trust you. And I believe you’ve got my back.”

My last day on the job was January 31st. On February 1st, the first day of my unemployment, I gave my tithe. Two days later my old employer tells me they want to pay my salary for the month of February.

*cue tears*

It was one of those God moments when you realize the God of the universe truly loves and cares for you. Followed up by having a job lined up by the middle of the month!

And it was pretty awesome being able to sleep in, go to the beach and be a bum for the entire month knowing you were getting paid. ;)

That’s all she wrote

So those are the four money-related testimonies I’ve experienced in my lifetime.

How about you? Any you want to share?