Free The Practice of Godliness: Godliness has value for all things by Jerry Bridges

every area of Christian character.
    Author Tim LaHaye tells us that it was Hippocrates, the Greek physician and philosopher, who gave us the fourfold classification of temperaments so widely used today He identified the jovial sanguine, the strong-willed choleric, the sensitive melancholic, and the dependable phlegmatic.
    The sanguine person easily responds to the admonition to rejoice in the Lord or to be compassionate and tender-hearted. At the same time, he finds it difficult to exercise self-control or to be faithful with responsibilities. He must pray more earnestly and strive more diligently for these latter graces. Above all, he must be convinced of the necessity in his life of those graces that are most difficult to display. He must not excuse himself for his lack of faithfulness on the basis of, “That’s just the way I am.”
    Similarly, the even-tempered, often unemotional phlegmatic person easily responds to the need for faithfulness but may have difficulty with the fruit of joy. I personally identify with this type of person. Faithfulness is very high in my value system; when given a responsibility, I am usually conscientious about fulfilling it. But I have to give special attention to joy. A number of years ago, God brought to my attention that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:1 7 ). I realized that joy in the Lord was just as important as any other trait of godly character.
    Furthermore, even those traits to which we most naturally respond need to be developed under the ministry of the Spirit. God has a way of putting us in situations that exercise our character in those areas in which we feel we are strong, in order that the fruit might be of the Spirit, not of ourselves. For example, the naturally faithful person might stop short of dependability if it becomes inconvenient. But the godly person keeps his word even when it is costly.
    The choleric individual can’t understand why anyone else has difficulty with self control. He is usually so self disciplined that this trait of godly character seems to come naturally to him. But as a godly person seeking to display all the fruit of the Spirit, he may weep over his lack of patience and gentleness in his relationships with others.
    The melancholic person is usually sensitive to the needs of others and is often self-sacrificing in his relationships. At the same time, he has a tendency to be critical and unforgiving, so he needs to especially look to the Holy Spirit for his ministry in those areas of need.
    I do not intend this section to be an amateur psychological analysis of various temperament types. Rather, I am seeking to demonstrate the varying needs each of us will have in displaying the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The principle to learn and apply is, We are responsible to exhibit all of the traits of godly character in a balanced fashion. Some traits are more difficult to grow in than others. These will require extra prayer and attention on our part, but that is simply the price we must pay to grow in Godlikeness.

GROWTH IS PROGRESSIVE
    The sixth principle of godly character is, Growth in all areas is progressive and never finished. Even the apostle Paul recognized this truth in his own life. In the context of his great longing to know Christ and to be like Him, he said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on...” (Philippians 3:12). In prison, near the end of his apostolic career, he was still pressing on, exerting every effort to continue growing in his knowledge and likeness of Christ.
    Even in those areas in which we have grown, there is always need for further growth. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonian Christians that they had been taught by God to love one another and, in fact, they did love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. That is quite a commendation ! But Paul was