The letter P stands for personality. Before a company employs someone, they might do a personality profile to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Have a think about your own personality for a moment: are you compassionate towards people, or competitive with them? Are you a hard-driving, succeed-at-all-costs type of personality, or do you have a more nurturing temperament? Whatever your answers, don’t envy someone else’s personality type and say, ‘I wish I was just like them.’ That’s like saying to God, ‘You made a mistake when you made me.’ God will help us to change our behaviour and strengthen our characters, but however hard we pray, He won’t change our personalities. Instead, He’ll help us to recognise it and maximise its strengths. The old saying ‘Birds of a feather flock together’ is true. Eagles don’t want to hang around with ducks. They don’t want to live on a farm or swim in a pond. They have the potential to soar high on warm air currents. Eagles are loners. Ducks, on the other hand, are team players. Some migrate thousands of miles from the UK to warmer climates, flying in a perfect V formation without breaking rank. They know how to work together and care for others in their flock. Before God gives you an assignment, He designs you. He gives you the right personality to fulfil His plan for your life. So instead of putting yourself down or wishing you had a different temperament, say with the psalmist, ‘You…knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it’ (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).
