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My reader is referring to a story I shared about how Lucia and I function when it comes to time management within our marriage. It became apparent early in our relationship that our personalities were different. Lucia lives on what I call “island time.” It goes like this.
I live on what I call “military time.” It goes like this.
Our two personalities brought conflict into our marriage, which is why we had to have a better understanding of the gospel. The gospel is not just for your salvation; it applies to the life that you live each day. The gospel saves and sanctifies lives.
When Christians talk about their personalities and how to work through relational conflict, they become more personality-centered than gospel-centered. They place the focus on their personalities rather than on the gospel. You’ll hear counselors and teachers doing similarly. They love talking about personalities, personality testing, and conflict resolution maneuvers while giving little mention of the gospel.
Whatever you make your primary focus, you will push everything else to the perimeter. Self-focus was the original sin. Our fallen condition assumes that self-analysis would be our preferred method for changing ourselves. Adam did not look to God for help but trusted in himself.
Personality is inferior to the gospel and should not supplant it. Your first call to action must be a clear and practical understanding of the gospel. I am not saying that your personality does not matter, but by starting there, it would be like helping a crack addict. The addictive substance matters, but it’s not where you begin.
When it comes to personality conflict in a marriage, the first thing a couple must do is define the gospel clearly. When I use the word “gospel,” I am talking about Jesus Christ, His person and work. I am not talking about the effects of the gospel like salvation, the Bible, or even religion. I am talking about Jesus Christ, the point and focus of Christianity, the Bible, our lives, and eternity.
The Old Testament writers pointed to the coming Messiah, and the New Testament writers looked back to Him. In heaven, He will be the central theme and the point of the new song that we will sing throughout eternity. If Christ is that important to the OT writers, the NT writers, and eternity, the centrality of the gospel must be of first importance in our lives.
You cannot help any couple through a difficulty if there is no measurable impact of the gospel on their lives. Too many couples miss this essential point. They just want to have their communication, addiction, anger, or other behavioral issues removed. If you don’t start with the gospel, whatever you stack on top of your efforts will not last.
I am a Christian counselor, not a secular psychologist. I offer hope through the power of the gospel, not seven habits for people who want to be effective. I’m like the woman at the well in John 4:29 who said, “Come see a man!” Or like John the Baptist in John 3:30, who said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” If Christ is not central in your heart, with accompanying transformation, any behavioral changes you try to implement will not be sustainable or satisfying.
I am not saying that you have to have a perfected experience of the gospel in your life. I am suggesting that you must be aware of the importance of the gospel, which these questions will help you to discern. Without an amplified Christ animating your soul, your life could very quickly resemble a facsimile of Christianity rather than the authentic one you see in the New Testament.
Your first assessment is how the gospel has affected you and your spouse. If you’re both leaning into it, albeit imperfectly, you’re in a great spot. Your second assessment is understanding how the gospel must impact your motivations. These verses will help you to discern your motivation for change.
In all three of these passages, there is a connection from the gospel to the behavioral result. The gospel empowers you to do the right thing. The gospel-centered person is confident that regardless of what his personality is or his spouse’s, God is greater. Your personality will not go through a complete makeover, but you will submit it to the gospel.
To be gospel-centered is to be like Christ. Christlike attitudes and behaviors are the “end game” as each spouse leads the other toward a better person with a purer personality. Rather than comparing yourself to your spouse, you look to Jesus and assess how well you are doing. Here are a few ways to gain a clearer perspective on areas that may need improvement.
For Lucia and I to work through our time management conflict, we had to come to terms with the gospel. We knew that our personalities would slowly change, which is Christian maturity. But we understood that there were aspects of our personalities that came baked into the cake. Rather than the futile attempt to reinvent ourselves, we decided to fixate on the gospel.
I had to put away the personality test and other individualistic, self-centered methodologies that kept me self-focused. My problem was not a lack of understanding of myself. I know that I can be rigid and detailed-oriented. Understanding the gospel meant that I needed to think less about myself and more about others (Mark 10:45).
Rather than stewing over how Lucia was not like me, I needed to esteem her more than me (Philippians 2:3). With the gospel now securely centered in my mind, I went in a different direction. Rather than my life and marriage being about what I wanted, it became more about God and what would make His name great. It didn’t take long to realize that I needed to repent of my sin.
Behaviorally, it was a lack of leadership in my marriage. At the heart level, it was self-righteousness—that “greater than, better than” attitude. I saw my way of doing things (personality) as being superior to her island time. My approach was to fuss at my wife for not meeting my expectations. With the gospel on the perimeter and my personality preferences in the center, I became a “functioning god.”
When she said that she would be home at such and such time, I self-righteously held her words up to her face and let her know what she said, how she failed me, how I was hurt, and how I was justified in letting her know all about it. Then when the gospel became the centerpiece of our lives, I realized that my Savior would never treat me that way. He does not motivate by fear, shame, guilt, or condemnation. He motivates by grace.
I began to think that if the Savior held me to the standard that I was holding my wife, the avalanche of my sins would pummel me. This new perspective did not mean I ignored my wife’s sins or her personality quirks. Christ does not ignore mine because He wants me to mature into Christlikeness. It is not a matter of neglecting problems but humbly helping another human to grow into Christian maturity.
I think sometimes we forget that our personalities, whatever they may be, are part of our old selves, and they need to be brought into submission to Christ. We are not partially fallen creatures. The fall of Adam and the conveyance of sin to all humanity was complete.
Our minds, which are part of our fallenness, have been affected by sin, too. Our thinking has become futile, and only the redemptive work of Christ can restore our minds from pre-regenerative fallenness. This effect of sin upon our minds is known in theology as the “noetic effects of sin.” Our personalities are part of our “former manner of life,” as Paul talked about in Ephesians 4:22-24.
When you and I were regenerated, we brought our old selves into a new life with Christ. Our old personalities were not born from above. Though we were positionally placed in Christ and possess every spiritual blessing because of Christ, we are not entirely like Christ. We live on earth with our old bodies and minds, which is, in part, why Paul is calling the Ephesians to step up to the inheritance they have in Christ.
I am flawed, and I need a Savior. The gospel makes me suspect of myself and my motives. This revived, regenerated worldview set me free from my bondage and placed me on a path of Christ-likeness. I began to understand that I could not continue asserting my rightness while also seeking to be transformed into the life that Christ offers. With a newfound healthy suspicion of myself, I could approach my wife with a desire to understand and serve her rather than waving my rightness in front of her.
The first order of business as a gospel-motivated person, who is suspicious of his motives, is to go to his wife and ask forgiveness for a lack of leadership in the marriage, specifically in the area of our time management conflicts. Fortunately, my wife, who was also growing in her understanding of the gospel, rather than asserting her rightness, was becoming more suspicious of her motives as well.
Although we used to be two disjointed, self-willed people ensconced in the arrogance of their rightness, we were becoming two people more interested in glorifying God through our one-flesh union. We mutually forgave each other. Neither one of us was interested in who was right or wrong. We desired to figure out how we could use our strengths and weaknesses to function day-to-day practically while making God’s name great.
The gospel is God’s strength applied to our weaknesses to make us something we could never accomplish by ourselves. As part of our repentance, we began to think about how we could use our strengths in the other person’s weakness. She wanted to know why it was vital for me to be on time, plan, and execute. I wanted to know more about her thought processes when it came to time, shopping, and relating to others.
She asked me if I would help her to think through her calendar and if she could run her calendar appointments by me. My wife is the most humble Christian that I know. Though she is incredibly competent in so many ways, she has no problem admitting areas where she needs to grow. She, quite simply, is not stuck on herself. Serving her has been a joy.
Today, what used to be two people using their strengths to put the other in his or her place, we have become ever-maturing, gospel-motivated complementarians. Our differences made us perfect for each other. What used to be friction between two people set in their ways has now become an opportunity to imitate the Savior by serving each other, which has made us much stronger as one.
Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.
In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).
