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Grace Mission University

Student Name: Soneat Pen (855 86430052) pensoneath@gmail.com


Course Name: Ministry formation
Name of Instructor: Dr.Linda Wainwright Trott ·

THE BOOK “SPIRIT CONTROL TEMPERAMENT BY TIM LAHAYE”

INTRODUCTION
Spirit control temperament is a book written by Tim Lahaye and was published by Tyndale House
Publishers Inc. in the year 1966 and was later renewed in 1994. Tim Lahaye started with an introduction,
making us to realize that temperament is the unseen force underlying human action, a force that can destroy a
normal and productive human being unless it is disciplined and directed. He further stressed the fact that
temperament provides both our strengths and weaknesses. At some point in time, this book became a best-
seller.
Still in the introductory section of this book, he gave a brief history of the four temperaments stating
that it is the oldest of human behavioral theory so far which has been in existence for over three thousand
years. Spirit control temperament is also the first book on the subject of temperament written in English and
for Christians with a biblical study of Peter the sanguine, Paul the choleric, Moses the melancholy and
Abraham the Phlegmatic.
In the first chapter the author feels that the reason behind human behavior is as a matter of an inherited
basic genetic temperament we got at the moment of our conception which contains both our strength and
weaknesses. In some cases, temperaments, character and personality are mistaken to mean the same thing but
Tim Lahaye opined that temperament is simply the combination of traits we were born with and on the other
hand, character is our civilized temperaments while personality is the face we show others.
And the second chapter emphasis the fact that though we are born with these traits and cannot be
changed, the Holy Spirit has the ability to of modifying them so much that it might seem to had been changed.
2Cor. 5: 17 is a clear indication that temperament weaknesses can be strengthen through the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if a Christian do not see a complete transformation of their temperaments, the simple reason is
“they do not regularly experience the power of the spirit filled life according to Eph. 5:18-21.
In the third chapter, Hippocrates, a Greek physician and philosopher is said to have propounded the
four theories of temperaments as blood-choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile and phlegm, though
erroneously. Erroneous because, Hippocrates named the temperaments in correspondence with the liquids he
thought were the cause. Such that the sanguine according to him is characterized by rich warm blood, chlories
by too much yellow bile, phlegmatic by thick blood while the melancholy, a black or dark-black bile. To him,
this suggests the lovely sanguine, active choleric, black melancholy and slow phlegmatic. This idea became
nullified with the advancement of modern medical science though the names were not affected of modern
medical science though the names were not affected. A detailed explanation of the various temperaments was
presented to us in this chapter with this format;
In chapter four: one of the chief objections to the theory of the various temperament is that it boxes
everyone into one temperament but that just is not true! This chapter tries to inform us that we are all blend of
atleast two temperaments: one predominates while the other is secondary. Below is a combo blend.

 The sanchlor: this is the strongest blend of the extroverts. The happy charisma of the sanguine makes
this person a people-oriented, enthusiastic sales type. But the choleric nature will provide the resolution
and character traits necessary to fashion a person more organized and productive than the pure
sanguine.
 The sanmel: sanmel are highly emotional people who fluctuate drastically. It is almost impossible for
them to hear a sad tale, observe the tragic plight of another person or listen to sad music without
weeping profusely. They genuinely feel the grief of others.
 The sanphleg: the easiest person is the sanphleg. Sanphlegs are happy-go-lucky people whose carefree
spirit and good humor make them lighthearted entertainers. Helping people is their regular business,
along with various forms of sales.
 The chlomel: this is one who is 60% choleric and 40% melancholy, they are extremely industrious and
capable. The optimism and practicality of the choleric overcomes the moodiness of the melancholy,
making him both goal-oriented and detailed,
 The chlorsan: this is the second strongest of the blends. Chlorsan are almost completely giving over to
activity. Most of their efforts are productive and purposeful but can become volatile in a moment.
 The chlorphleg: this is the most subdued of all extroverts temperaments. Imagine a happy blend of the
quick, active, and hot with the calm, cool and unexcited. The chlorphegs are not as apt to rush into
things as quick as the extroverts.
 The melsan: this is said to be predominantly introvertish temperamet.
In chapter five, the author outlined and reviewed the natural strengths of the four basic temperaments:
1. The sanguine: they enjoy life more than any other person, they are always optimistic, friendly and
compassionate.
2. The choleric: cholerics are strong –willed and self disciplined individuals with a powerful tendency
toward self-determination. They are practical, optimistic and often great leaders.
3. The melancholy: they are by far the richest and most sensitive of all. They are perfectionist, faithful
friend and self sacrificing. They are practical, optimistic and often great leaders.
4. The phlegmatic: they are witty in the sense that they have an unexcited good humor that keeps them
from being intensely involved with life. They are dependability personified, efficient and practical and
well organized.
The variety of strengths provided by the four temperament types keeps the world functioning properly
such that no one temperament is more desirable than another
Chapter six: Temperament weakness
As important as the temperament strengths are, even more important for our purposes, are the
temperament weaknesses. In this chapter, the author presents to us a contrast of the strengths of the
temperaments with their weaknesses and how to overcome them.
1. The sanguine: they are always restless with a weak-will but filled with ego due to early achievements.
Emotionally they are unstable. According to the author, he can overcome this weakness by the filling
of the holy spirit and self discipline just as stated in Gal. 5.
2. The choleric: By nature, cholerics have a serious emotional deficiency. They hardly cry, they are hot
tempered, cruel impetuous and always feel they are self sufficient. They need the seven of the nine
fruit of the spirit; love joy, peace, gentleness, long-suffering, meekness and goodness.
3. The melancholy: they have a self-centered trait which is capable of ruining their lives. They are
pessimistic and analytical, moody and revengeful. The primary spiritual needs of the melancholy are
the six of the spirit; love, joy, peace, goodness, faith and self-control.
4. The phlegmatic: they are said to be slow and lazy, they easily tease others who annoy them or threaten
to motivate them. They are selfish and stubborn, above all, they are indecisive. The primary spiritual
needs of the phlegmatic are five fruits of the spirit; love, goodness, meekness, faith and temperance or
self-control in terms of motivation.
In chapter seven, unlike the scientific temperament, the holy spirit temperament is believed by the
author in this chapter not to have any weakness, instead, it has nine all encompassing strengths. He
also buttress the fact that anyone filled with the holy spirit whether sanguine, choleric, melancholy or
phlegmatic is going to manifest nine spiritual characteristics called the fruit of the spirit which are
outlined in Galatians 5:22 to be love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness
and self control. All of this are supplied to us by God so as to have a spirit controlled life at least one
strength for every temperament induced weakness.
Chapter eight: how to be filled with the holy spirit
The important thing in the life of any Christian is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, hence the author
opined the following as ways to which one can be spirit filled;
1. Examine yourself for sin 1cor. 11:28
2. Confess all known sins 1John 1:9
3. Submit yourself completely to God Rom. 6:11-13
4. Ask to be filled with the holy spirit Luke 11:13
5. Believe you are filled with the holy spirit and thank Him Rom. 14:23
6. Walk in the spirit Gal. 5:16
In chapter nine, anger is one of the most common and one of the most destructive emotions known to
mankind. Anger –related sins according to the author probably has ruin more Christian testimonies than other
kind of sin. However, he itemized bitterness, malice, seditions, jealousy, attack, gossip, sarcasm and
unforgiveness to mean a description of variations of anger.
Quenching the Holy Spirit with fear in chapter ten, to maintain a spirit-filled life, one must guard
against quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. Just like anger, so also fear is universal. Just like anger, it
takes many forms too; some of which are: worry, inferiority, cowardice, hesitancy, depression, haughtiness
and social shyness. Any form of fear has it cost or consequencies inatleast four areas of life especially to the
emotions, social, physical and spiritual. In this chapter, we have
Chapter eleven, depression is no respecter of persons but strikes the educated and the unlearned. The
high cost of being depressed can be channeled to being gloomy and pessimistic, apathy and fatigue,
hypochondria, loss of productivity, irritability and withdrawal.
Some of the causes of depression include; temperament tendencies, hypocrisy, physical problems, the
devil, rebellion and unbelief, psychological letdown and self-pity, thanks giving living can however become
a transforming experience.
Selfishness is the one sin that has plagued all mankind from the fall in the Garden of Eden to the
present. Selfishness is a destroyer of relationships as selfish people think first, last and always of themselves.
Remember, selfishness causes other weaknesses. This chapter also talks about temperament and selfishness.
For the sanguine, they are naturally born egotist. They like to be the center of attraction, captivating
other people with their endless conversation since never closes their minds that everyone doesn’t love them.
Unselfish sanguine are rare. Only the spirit-filled life can modify this temperament by making them “others-
conscious”.
Chapter thirteen: how to overcome your weaknesses the basic purpose in giving this temperament
study is to examine both strengths and weaknesses and to go to the Holy Spirit for his filling and have his
strength for our weaknesses. After an X-ray diagram of temperaments in page 201, the author stated that the
Holy Spirit is God’s only cure for temperament weakness. So to overcome our weaknesses, one must face
his/her weakness as sin. Confess the sin every time it occurs, ask the loving heavenly father to take away this
habit, believe god has given the victory, ask for the filling of the holy spirit, then walk in the spirit and abide
in Christ daily, continually yielding oneself to the holy spirit, serving Christ, etc.
In the last chapter temperament modification is to be expected as being born again is a supernatural
experience and as such should have supernatural effects. As the author draws the book tom a close, he again
examined each temperament and shows how the Holy Spirit supplies strength for each natural weakness.

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