Join me today as we talk about what it looks like to dig deeper into our personality. The enneagram is a creative tool that we can use in our process of becoming more like the men and women God created us to be.
Tribe, A Jesus Revival
S4 E11: The Enneagram + Why it Matters.
Join me today as we talk about what it looks like to dig deeper into our personality. The enneagram is a creative tool that we can use in our process of becoming more like the men and women God created us to be. Link for book: https://www.amazon.com/Enneagram-You-Understand-Personality-Relationships/dp/1507212720/ref=asc_df_1507212720/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11598848727399237413&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9198571&hvtargid=pla-2281435178058&psc=1&mcid=9089f77d0c853dea9680337c4d283e2e&hvocijid=11598848727399237413-1507212720-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1
- Duration:
- 10m
- Broadcast on:
- 12 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Hey everyone, it's Britt Vega, host of the Tribe Podcast. Here at Tribe, we believe that we are all called to live, love, and pursue our God-given purpose within the context of a tribe. Not only were we created by a God that IS community, love is our identity in calling. It's literally in our DNA. If you want to hear real stories of God's great love and faithfulness, you're in the right place. Let's get into our message for today. Hey y'all, welcome back to the Tribe Podcast. This is Britt Vega, and I am so excited that you're here. Today we are talking about the Enneagram, and this is not something that I would call a biblical principle, but more of what I would call a tool that we can use in our process of self-discovery and becoming more like the men and women that God has called us to be. The Enneagram is essentially a personality test, and the idea is that it would act as a guide or a reference as to just learning more about what motivates our behaviors and how we're likely to approach conflict and what happens when we become stressed, and I would say that this tool is definitely the most beneficial if you're at a point in your life where you're ready to face reality at all costs. Of course, it can be used anytime, but when you're on a journey of self-awareness and like you're good with the bad, the messy, and the ugly parts of your life and the challenging parts of your personality, y'all please take this test. And I say it like that because it really requires taking a long look at the parts of us that make up the whole picture of who we are. And with that, I'm going to add this disclaimer. We are who God says we are. No test is going to change that. We were created by a God who has a plan and a purpose for our life. We are God's chosen people. We were fearfully and wonderfully made, but God equipped us all with different strengths and personalities and learning about those are really powerful when it comes to growth and learning how to have life within the healthy context of a tribe. Okay. So the Enneagram, essentially the way that it works is that you take a test that consists of honestly what I felt like was a lot of questions. The book that I have broke it down in the little mini quizzes to help you identify your type, which is assigned with a number. So like you're a number one through a number nine. And really the whole idea of the Enneagram is to try to give us a better understanding of how we react and relate to the world around us. So each Enneagram type or number has a set of common behaviors that explain how we look at the world and our dominant number is a product of two things. The first is the environment that we grew up in. And then the second is the unique set of traits that we were born with. So once you've identified your number, you also have a line of security and a line of stress and this is probably my favorite part of the Enneagram because I think that knowing how what our tendencies are and how we're wired to respond to stress or where we go for security, the things that make us feel good and healthy, there is so much power and knowing the difference between those two and then growing in both of those areas. And here's the difference. Your security point is where you subconsciously move to when you're feeling really secure and comfortable. It's, I mean, I guess for a lack of better terms, it's here, like this is a place you go where you're able to take down your walls and take off your mask and be available and present for yourself and other people. It's where we go when we're ready for a reprieve and we can rest our defenses in this area. Whereas our stress point is where we tend to go when we're in seasons of chaos. You guys have heard me talk about the crazy cycle when we find ourselves on this crazy cycle and basically until we do the work to heal, we will take on the unhealthy characteristics of our stress point when we're in our seasons in the valley or our seasons of struggle. I'm going to give you a really great example of stress point and what it looks like. So I am an enneagram type too, so when someone crosses a line with me or I am feeling stressed and feeling like I need to respond, the unhealthy part of a number eight, which number eight is my stress point, is that I can be controlling or aggressive, but I've done the work. And now when I lean into my stress point in a healthy way, I become assertive. I stand up for what I need and I'm firm in my beliefs. I also know how to create healthy boundaries, but none of that can happen and none of that is comfortable for me until I strengthen that connection with my stress point and I take the steps to do the work to heal in my own life. And I use the word heal a lot. I think it would be good to kind of clarify what I mean when I say that. When I say heal, I'm not talking about just selfishly healing for ourselves so that we can in whatever capacity say that we are healed because listen, we are all sinners, we all fall short, we all need a savior and I put myself in that category. So yes, I've done the work, but this side of eternity, I still have a lot of work to do. When I say heal, I'm talking about healing so that I can be the best partner in my marriage. The best mom to my boys and the best friend within my tribe. It's just the most healthy version of myself and the version that quite frankly God is calling me and calling all of us to be. Okay, so when I was in college working on my bachelor's degree, I loved taking psychology classes and I think it's because I find it so fascinating that we are able to dig more into figuring out who we are and how God has created us and if you are a faithful listener to this podcast, you heard my message from last week about the importance of connecting the dots. Y'all, it is all a part of the process. Small steps compounded over time lead to big results and most of the time it's without us even realizing that it's happening. We just start growing and we start changing because we start taking these little steps and it's all a part of doing the work. What I believe is one of the greatest opportunities that we have with this Enneagram personality test is the way that our personality plus the way that God has created us impacts our relationships. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that knowing ourselves better allows our relationships to be transformed and to basically go to a deeper level and I say that because without really knowing ourselves in a deep, vulnerable way, it's hard to know and to go deep and to be real and vulnerable with other people. The other thing that I love about the Enneagram is that it really breaks down all areas of our lives. So the book that I have, which I'm going to link in the show notes for y'all, is called the Enneagram and you and it covers my blind spots. It talks about what it looks like to be a number two at work and in my marriage and at home. It tells me about my core values and my strengths, but it's also really brutally honest about the challenges that I face as a number two. And that's why I say that it's important to use this tool in your process of self-reflection and self-awareness because it would be so easy. Y'all, it would be so easy to pick up this book or any Enneagram book to take the test to get our number and then to move on. But if we are really tuned in to be more like Jesus and we are willing to face reality and look at our hearts and the hard parts of our personality in a really deep and profound way, the Enneagram is such a beautiful tool to use on this journey. I'm going to end with this. When God takes the shackles off of your eyes and you are able to start seeing yourself and your place and your calling and your purpose and the world around you and the people that God has entrusted to your care in a really clear and profound way, y'all, it is one of the most free feelings that you will ever experience this side of eternity. Obviously the Enneagram is just one of many tools that exist that we can use to better understand ourselves and how we interact with our tribe. But I would highly, highly recommend it. And remember that as you are digging deeper into you, work with how God created you, with your personality and with your strengths because God wants us to be exactly who He created us to be. Y'all, He is not expecting you to show up as an Enneagram one if He created you to be an Enneagram seven. You were created in His image and likeness, so use the gifts that He gave you and have fun digging into and learning more about who He created you to be. Let's make heaven crowded. I'm praying for y'all and I'll see you next week.