Don't Be a Sad Sack: Your Personality Is Your Greatest Asset
Dr RJ Sing, 1 hr 43 min
Originally recorded as “Managing and Improving Your Personality (Part 1)”
Sermon outline
Your personality is your greatest asset or your greatest liability, so let the Christ in you come out by being friendly, positive and respectful to others.
Main text
- Hebrews 2:1-3
- Ephesians 4:32
Opening
The service opens with worship and communion, after which he leads the church in applying the blood of Jesus to their minds, hands, ears, eyes, mouths and feet, and in declarations over their tithes and offerings. In the announcements he gives the church's new name, Faith Centre International, 'Living Life Without Limits'. He then says he is not preaching but talking, continuing the series on solving life's problems after mind management, and that today's subject is managing and improving your personality.
Your personality is your greatest asset or your greatest liability
Many qualified professionals never reach the next level because of their personalities, and many people were pleasant and fun before they were saved but became sour and morbid as Christians. Salvation is an all-inclusive word that includes wholeness of the emotions, and much stress is self-inflicted, so learn to be comfortable in your own skin: you are unique, fearfully and wonderfully made. People see your personality before they hear what you say, and managers often promote the likeable person over the knowledgeable one.
Illustration: Some Christians develop a 'special walk' at church; some wives were jovial before marriage until a jealous husband told them not to laugh, and then he complains she is no fun. Let a child who is a born comedian be a comedian.
“Your personality can be your greatest asset or your greatest liability.”
- Hebrews 2:1-3
- Psalm 139:14
1. Friendliness
Be friendly, kind and tender-hearted, even with people of other faiths, and don't speak down to anyone. Sometimes people outside the faith have better personalities than born-again Christians, but Christ in you has friendliness and love in Him that only need to be expressed. When you lift someone up to your level, God promotes you to a higher level.
Illustration: A man who saw him on TV drove with his whole family from Mthatha to the church on North Coast Road just for prayer; he prayed for them and the church gave them a meal.
“Whenever you take somebody and help them from a lower level and bring them up to your level, God always promotes you to a higher level.”
- Ephesians 4:32
- Galatians 6:7
2. Be positive
A negative person is a pessimist, and spiritually an unthankful person, so be grateful for the house, food, clothes and job you have, because wherever you are is a temporary station. Think on what is lovely and of good report, look for solutions, and spice up your life with joy, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. Your boss and co-workers are watching, and a friendly, positive person is ready for promotion.
Illustration: Joseph kept a good attitude in prison and shaved and dressed himself before he stood before Pharaoh. A panel beater in the church looks at a crumpled car others call a write-off and says, 'Pastor, this is nothing.' He himself had to learn to smile when he started having photographs taken.
“Negatives are developed in dark rooms.”
- Genesis 41:14
- Philippians 4:8
- Nehemiah 8:10
3. Having respect for others
Follow the golden rule. Get to know people before criticising them, respect those who look, speak or think differently, and listen instead of only wanting to be heard. A fool utters all his mind, so speak what edifies, and if you have nothing nice to say, keep quiet and smile.
Illustration: Sad Sack, the comic-strip soldier who never smiled. Some people are at the top of the retrenchment list not because they are Christians but because they are grumpy.
“If you have nothing nice to say, rather keep quiet.”
- Matthew 7:12
- Proverbs 29:11
Putting it into practice
- This week be more friendly and courteous.
- Be positive: replace negative thoughts with positive ones, even before a difficult meeting.
- Respect others, listen to them and pay them a compliment.
- Be thankful for what you have and be a problem solver, not an observer of problems.
- Let the Christ in you come out of you.
Closing
He reminds them that a good personality makes you a marketable product, more than qualifications alone, and that motivational speakers charge for what he has given free. He prophesies that they will be friendly, positive, solution-minded and respectful that week, with blessing on their homes, marriages and finances, and has them declare that their personality is their asset. He welcomes visitors with copies of the Faith Chronicles, gives a salvation and recommitment call, asks the church to pray for him as he prays for them, and hands over to Pastor Wesley to close.
Declarations he led
- Lord Jesus, I plead your precious blood on my mind, on my body, on my spirit and I declare that the devil cannot touch me.
- Say, I choose to be friendly. Say, I'm going to be very friendly from today.
- Say, I'm a can-do person. Say, I'm not a moaning person.
- Say, I'm going to improve my personality. Say, my personality is my asset. I'm going to improve it.
- Say, this week is a supernatural week.
In his words
- “Your personality can be your greatest asset or your greatest liability.”
- “Much of the stress you are experiencing in your life is self-inflicted.”
- “Learn to be comfortable in your own skin.”
- “A testimony is, it means you pass a test and then you have a testimony.”
- “If you have nothing nice to say, rather keep quiet.”
Every scripture in this message
- Philippians 4:7
- Mark 4:39
- Psalm 150:6
- Philippians 4:4
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- Exodus 12:23
- Romans 8:14
- Psalm 34:7
- Psalm 91:10
- Mark 16:18
- Isaiah 52:7
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
- John 16:24
- Proverbs 22:6
- Hebrews 2:1-3
- Psalm 139:14
- Philippians 4:13
- Ephesians 4:32
- Galatians 6:7
- Genesis 41:14
- Philippians 4:8
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Matthew 7:12
- Proverbs 29:11