The PERSONALITY of Jesus

Jesus was fully God and fully human. Christians can spend a lifetime studying the Bible to grasp Jesus as a deity, but how many get to know his personality? It dawned on me recently that as much as I have studied the Bible, I was unaware of Jesus as a person. I enjoy novels mainly because I love getting to know the characters. Unlike a script, there is no list of characters with a rundown of their traits, likes and dislikes.

To get to the bottom of “The Personality of Jesus” I embarked on a fresh reading of the gospels. One that was more like reading a novel where the main character unfolded through his interactions with others, behaviors, dialogue and patterns. It was not easy detangling the deity from the human after more than thirty-five years as a Christian. However, my novelistic adventure through the gospels proved to give me new insight.

You can follow “The Personality of Jesus” in a nine-part series for the month of June on Dirt Road Believer YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday. Each episode reveals a different facet of Jesus’ personality, and some may surprise you. Whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, this study it for you to get to know Jesus the person. If you are not a Christian, you meet Jesus for the first time as just a guy. If you are a Christian, perhaps you have never looked at what kind of person Jesus was.

Many people assign Jesus a personality, but often it is much like their own. It is hard to believe that Jesus could possibly have a personality trait that you might find difficult in others. What if Jesus had a personality like that of the co-worker that rubs you the wrong way or the family member that makes you dread holidays. Is that even possible?

Now Jesus aside, contemplate the personalities you clash with. Have you ever been guilty of thinking, “how could they possibly be a Christian” or “they could never make it to heaven”. The truth is we come in all personality types and your personality has nothing to do with whether you are a Christian. You heard me correctly, personality does not determine spiritual destiny!

We tend to think that there is a set “Christian personality”. You know, nice, smiling all the time, bubbly, super friendly and don’t forget accepting of everyone. That is simply not true. God does not want to get you to the altar and have you receive salvation so that he can give you a personality transplant. He made you uniquely you for a reason; so that he can use you in a capacity that requires you to be, well…you.

I am extremely grateful that there are Christians of every personality, color, nationality and tongue. There is such rich variety within the Christian faith and every individual is one part of making our faith complete. Join me in June to discover ‘The Personality of Jesus’.