and of Scandinavian background. The fellow had a beautiful daughter who just idolized him. She went to a Christian college where they select ed one student each year for her beauty. This girl won, and when she got home, wanting her father to commend her, she put the school an nual in front of him. He in turn was very cold and indifferent. He hur riedly looked through the pages. When he came to the magnificent picture of his own daughter in full color, he passed along without one word of comment. While this man had provided his daughter with all the necessities as well as a lot of the luxuries of life, yet she died a thousand deaths that day because Dad didn’t say, “Honey, this is beau tiful! I’m thrilled for you; what an honor!” There was no approval. The one thing she wanted more than any thing else he failed to give. Chil dren need and should have our love and approval each day. How we love the approval of God in our lives as well as the approval of our fellow men! If it’s true with us, all the more so with those about us whom we love. Do you know, I’ve found some of the hardest people to deal with spiritually are those who have had choleric fathers. The reason is they’ve transferred a concept of God from their human parent. Conse quently they think of God as a stern, angry, disinterested ta sk -m a s te r . They see Him as never satisfied with our good but only displeased with our evil. In Scripture our God is re flected by the Lord Jesus Himself as a concerned and compassionate Heavenly Father who loved us so much that He gave His only begot ten Son to die for us. We find an excellent picture of this in the Prodigal Son. When the boy came back, his father literally ran to meet him. The lad was kissed and welcomed back. That’s a picture of God’s love for sinful, fallen mankind. Faith and self-control are two
it.” As we allow these processes to take place over our lives, we will be characterized by the nine fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22ff. Frequently we observe that Mr. Choleric needs more love. Such a person would rather show his love for his wife and family by taking an extra job, bringing home more money. He can’t understand a lack of appreciation for such love. While not often kind by nature, when filled by the Spirit of God, Mr. Choleric has a real love exemplified in his life, and he’s also joyful. Joy is really a response to the indwelling Spirit of God regardless what your tempera ment may be. I remember a certain preacher who was choleric by nature. The peo ple of the church loved him for he was a very dynamic young leader. They wanted to work under him al though no one could really keep up with him. One of his board lovingly said, “Pastor, can’t we take a rest for a while? We’ve been going at this project so hard and long, every one is worn out. You have to remem ber that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ ” The exuberant, fire-eating leader flashed back, “Yes, but don’t forget I wasn’t foreman on that crew.” This is often one of the atti tudes of the choleric temperament. He wants to run things and be the dominant figure. What a miraculous transformation takes place when he’s filled with the Spirit of God! We find him more gentle, more peaceful, more joyful, and more loving. As a counselor and a pastor, I’m totally unimpressed with the way choleric men treat their wives, oft- times pretending to be spiritual. Any time a man is so self-sufficient and independent that he isn’t even polite to his wife, he’s very unwise. If this is true with you, ask the Spirit of God to give you gentleness. Your wife and children need it. I had a friend who was choleric
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