In pastoral ministry, I have often been asked this question by a non-religious person: “What makes you so different than me?” and My answer was always: “Jesus.” Because when we accept Jesus as our savior, we are no longer the same person. We leave all failures, disappointments, rejections, abuses behind, and we start a new relationship with Jesus. The Apostle Paul emphasized this in 2 Corinthians 5: 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”. Scientists and philosophers argue that spirituality is not critical for healthy personality development. They believe that our personality is shaped both by our genetics and hereditary factors and by our environment. This conflict between religion and science on personality development has not been resolved. One group believes that spirituality is crucial for personality development, and the other group focus more on biology and social environment as the outcome of a good personality. The central question is this: does spirituality affects personality development? will respond to the question above in the next few lines.
Spirituality The Basis for Healthy Personality Development
Spirituality plays a significant role in the formation of personality development. Being a spiritual person means that our life depends on God. When we are facing a difficult situation, we know that God is with us. Spirituality helps us to cope better with anxiety and depression. This view is reflected in 1 Peter 5: 7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” This verse means that we do not have to worry about things we cannot control because God has our back. The Greek word that translates anxiety in the bible is “μεριμνάω” which mean distracted, this implies that the absence of a spiritual being in our lives could cause personality disorder. People who have a neurotic personality deal a lot with anxiety, depression, moodiness. The best therapeutic model for a neurotic person is to rely on God.
The Bible also talks about how the presence of the Holy spirit shapes our personality. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” This verse means that God’s spirit allows us to be outgoing, energetic, enjoyable which are the characteristic of an extrovert and fully functioning person. Other verses in the Bible that support how spirituality affects our personality like Philippians 4: 8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”, Romans 12:2: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”, Galatians 5: 22, 23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”. With the support of the Biblical evidence, we can say that Spirituality is a significant element for healthy personality development. The absence of God in our life could lead to depression, chronic stress, physical pain in our body. Scientific research proves that spirituality contributes to our personality development.
Researchers at an Islamic University selected one hundred seventy-eight students to complete a survey on their fundamental beliefs and their personality. The results of this study showed that spirituality links with healthy personality development. Their beliefs in God give them the confidence to overcome the fear of the unknown. The presence of a higher being added meaning and value to their lives. The researchers also found that a correlation between positive personality traits and religious beliefs. As a Christian, I support the result of this research. I think the result will be the same across all religions. A person who constantly connected with God through prayer and the study of God's Word will handle stress better than those who are not spiritual. Researchers found that college students who were active in campus ministry had lower levels of depression than other students (Therese, 2011).
On the opposite side, scientists and philosophers rely more on genes on social environment as the basis for personality development. Voltaire, a French philosopher who doesn’t believe in God’s existence, believed that religiosity is a cause of unhealthy behavior. He states only uneducated people will believe in the existence of transcendent being. For him, a fully functioning person live freely without the presence of God. We can conclude for Voltaire spirituality as nothing to do with personality because we are born free. Jean Jacques Rousseau, a contemporary of Voltaire, believes that human being is good by nature but corrupted by the environment. He believed the character of a person should form through Nature. The environment is the basis for personality development and not religion.
Friedrich Nietzsche a German philosopher goes beyond the impact of spirituality and personality development. Nietzsche grew up in a Christian environment, but later on his life he denial God’s existence. He was known for the statement “God is dead.” He talks about the constant fight we face between good and evil. He believed that human beings have the power to change their lives. He also supports the idea that the character of a child form at birth and not by religious belief. For him religiosity corrupts our character, we must free ourselves from religion. There are other theorists that argues that our development is connected to our genetic make-up and not by our faith in God. The father of evolutionism theory Charles Darwin, believed we get our personality patterns from our ancestors. Human beings evolve in each stage in their lives. I have to add that people are against spirituality because of a sin problem. They base their self-worth on external factors like money, popularity, and power instead to rely on God. The result of their behavior lead to emptiness, insecurity, disappointment and fear for the future.
My position
I firmly believe that spirituality is crucial for healthy personality development. An active spiritual life allows us to communicate effectively, connect more deeply, and boost our self-confidence. For instance, the person who scores high on agreeableness describes as a sociable, friendly, warm and kind. This personality trait link with a verse in the Bible found in John 13:33-35: “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 35. By this, all men will know that you are My disciples if you one another.” This verse means that we cannot be in a relationship with God without loving our neighbors. We need to have an optimistic view with those we are in a relationship with God. When we spiritually connected with our heavenly father, we will exhibit healthy behavior.
I do believe that a person who deeply connects with God through prayer will find hope when he feels hopeless, because knows that circumstances will not last forever. He refuses to let shame and guilt consume his life because he redeemed and saved by the blood of the lamb. Spirituality allows us to see things different than those who are not spiritual. Where they see the red sea, we see opportunity. Where they see emptiness, we see abundance. Spirituality gives us the optimistic view of ourselves and our environment. Yes, genes matter, our environment matters, but a daily connection with God can shape both our genes and our environment.
References
Borchard Therese. (2011).Spirituality and Prayer Relieve Stress. Retrieve from
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/therese-borchard/spirituality-and-prayer-
r_b_497222.html.
Khoynezhad G, Rajaei AR, Sarvarazemy A. (2012) Basic Religious Beliefs and Personality
Traits. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry7(2):82-86.
https://unsplash.com/photos/6zigO1P0sPM
New International version (Bible).