Your Spiritual Personality: Using the Strengths of Your Personality to Deepen Your Relationship with God [Paperback]

Marita Littauer (Author), Florence Littauer (Foreword), Betty Southard (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

Your Spiritual Personality takes the study of personality to its logical and important next step: helping you to make connections between the strengths and weaknesses of your personality and your pursuit of a relationship with God. By being aware of your individual style of approaching prayer, the Bible, devotions, and worship, you can strengthen your faith in ways uniquely tailored to your personality. The book’s practical advice,  suggestions for each personality type, and inspiring real-life stories will enrich your spiritual life by helping you develop a stronger walk with God.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When a book's introductory chapter poses the question, "Is it possible that there is no one right way to develop one's spiritual life?" you have to assume the target audience has encountered some spiritual bullies along the way. This book by Littauer, a professional speaker, is a pop-psychology spiritual pep talk for evangelical Christians who need to understand that spirituality can include variety. Drawing from her own feeling that she was, at times "doing it wrong, " Littauer has developed a personality test and four "types" for identification, so that Christians can find their fit in spiritual practices. She uses Hippocrates' four basic chemical types; there's the "Popular Sanguine," the "Powerful Choleric," the "Perfect Melancholy" and the "Peaceful Phlegmatic." Much like other typologies popular in church circles—Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram—all Littauer's types feature strengths and weaknesses. She also "types" Jesus, who, not surprisingly, is the perfect balance of all four categories. This book will be helpful for evangelical Christians who feel out of sync with the usual devotional practices being promoted in their churches. It will hold little interest for those Christians who already accept that there are many paths to a deeper relationship with God and need no new typologies to persuade them.
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Review

When a book’s introductory chapter poses the question, "Is it possible that there is no one right way to develop one’s spiritual life?" you have to assume the target audience has encountered some spiritual bullies along the way. This book by Littauer, a professional speaker, is a pop-psychology spiritual pep talk for evangelical Christians who need to understand that spirituality can include variety. Drawing from her own feeling that she was, at times "doing it wrong," Littauer has developed a personality test and four "types" for identification, so that Christians can find their fit in spiritual practices. She uses Hippocrates’ four basic chemical types; there’s the "Popular Sanguine," the "Powerful Choleric," the "Perfect Melancholy" and the "Peaceful Phlegmatic." Much like other typologies popular in church circles--Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram--all Littauer’s types feature strengths and weaknesses. She also "types" Jesus, who, not surprisingly, is the perfect balance of all four categories. This book will be helpful for evangelical Christians who feel out of sync with the usual devotional practices being promoted in their churches. It will hold little interest for those Christians who already accept that there are many paths to a deeper relationship with God and need no new typologies to persuade them. (Nov. 12) (Publishers Weekly, October 25, 2004)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787973084
• ISBN-13: 978-0787973087
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical relationship enhancing tool for all professions., April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Getting Along with Almost Anybody: The Complete Personality Book (Paperback)

If you are a leader in any area of your life, then you must read this book. And, once you read it, keep it where you keep your other reference books. I believe it is an essential tool just like your dictionary.

I have been trained in both the secular and Christian arena obtaining Bachelors' degrees in both. This should be required reading in all secular academic and seminary classes.

Florence and Marita's consistent teaching and practical instructions permeate this compilation where we often have many roles from mother to board president (as in my case) and need a tool to make ourselves more effective. This is a dynamic tool and the practical application presented is second to none.

I read this book after I read Personality Plus and Your Personality Tree and I suggest you read these in that order as well.

A must read and then keep for future reference!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move Over Katherine and Isabel - Florence and Marita are in the House!, August 29, 2006

By 

Michael Dandridge (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wired that Way: The Comprehensive Personality Plan (Paperback)

Katherine Cook Briggs and daughter Isabel Briggs-Myers, shared an intense curiosity about typology and together they co-created what became the "gold standard" for personality profiling, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. In a remarkably similar fashion, Florence, with husband Fred, began research into the four temperaments, which led to her body of work on the Personalities, paving the way for daughter Marita Littauer to add her own research and insights. Together, sharing forty years of study, they are inarguably, the Myers-Briggs for a new generation.

Now Marita Littauer has written the definitive book (with insights from Florence) about the Personalities under the clever title, Wired That Way. Let me say this plainly - you won't find the Myers-Briggs 16 personality types in this book. What you will find is the latest available information on the four basic types - often attributed to Hippocrates - of Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Melancholy, and Choleric.

Ms. Littauer writes in a conversational style that pulls you through the book, as she dives straight into the heart of practical everyday application. Through the use of story and metaphor, she takes us into the familiar daily-ness of life, and along the way, we suddenly realize we can better understand the strange people at work and the - um - "quirky" behavior of certain family members, as well as those curious individuals in our Bible Study group. In other words, wherever you find people, you will find fertile ground for applying these techniques.

I don't think it will be giving anything away to say that Ms. Littauer concludes her book with a caveat: Don't let the preferences of your personality be an excuse for poor performance or behavior. Rather, focus on using your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Understand that it's your differences that make you a unique child of God. She notes that throughout the Gospels of the New Testament, the personality of Jesus Christ "contained the strength of all four personalities and the weaknesses of none." Marita's powerful, heartfelt call to action is "to live in your strengths - to be more like Christ."

Buy one book for yourself and send another to a friend - you know - that person who really needs to read it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personality Puzzle: Understanding the People You Work With, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Personality Puzzle: Understanding the People You Work with (Paperback)

Understanding why people in your work environment act the way they do is at times very difficult. This book defines personality types and gives great insight into how and why they respond the way they do. It also helps an individual to define their own personality type. By giving real life examples, it is easy to see how to apply what the reader is learning. This book is definitely an eye opener. It will help to distinguish the office personalities, give insight into how to deal with them, and how to interact with them. It has a question area for determing your own personality and a glossary for defining the descriptions used in explaining the different personalities. The style is very easy to read and understand. A must read for everyone in the work place.