touches the melancholic is of prime importance to him. This is why many of them become hypocondriacs. Traits which are not corrected can ruin the entire life. It’s very easy for such a person to be offended and insulted. He carries his feelings on his sleeve, being prone to be sus picious and “evil surmisings.” As a pessimist, Mr. Melancholy can see not only the ultimate end of a proj ect but also what’s more real to him, all of the problems to be encountered along the way. Such a person will never be happy until he goes to the Lord in faith to overcome all these difficult tendencies. The Holy Spirit of God is able and has promised to change such individuals. One other characteristic about Mr. Melancholy is a spirit of criticism. He’s critical of himself as well as others. Maybe you have this tenden cy, too. The sooner you brand this part of your life as a sin right out of the pit, and ask God for victory over it, the sooner you’ll be a re joicing servant of the Lord. You’ll never be a happy Christian as a critic. This will drive all your friends away. But more than this you’ll be grieving the Holy Spirit. Oh, it’s true, people do things that are wrong. But that doesn’t mean they’re no good, deserving of our condemnation. No one’s perfect, ex cept Jesus Christ. He has given us the pattern as we look to Him for guidance. He wants you to exchange your weaknesses for His strength. All it takes is faith. Why not take this step today in your life? C hapter Two H ow interesting it is to see the various temperaments which God has given to each of us! Unsurren dered to the Lord, they will cause us misery and unhappiness. When channeled by the Holy Spirit, we’ll not only lead victorious lives for the Lord, but also be useful servants for whatever work He may have for us
to do. Mr. Melancholy has an emo tional capacity knowing no bounds. He appreciates the finer things of life. At the same time, he’s pessi mistic and self-centered. He needs to get his eyes off himself and fixed firmly on Jesus Christ. Only then can he be an effective Christian. His proneness to moodiness can really be quite vicious. For seemingly no rea son at all, he goes through gloomy periods. People may consequently avoid him. His sensitive nature rec ognizes this rejection and makes things even worse. A melancholy person should ear nestly seek the Holy Spirit’s help in getting his eyes off himself and onto the needs of the many others around him. One of the most dynamic illus trations of the power of the gospel is the way in which the Spirit of God works in individuals like the Apostle John or Moses. I think it’s a dynamic illustration of power when an individual that is filled with negativism like Moses goes on to become a great leader of Israel. If you don’t believe that Moses was a melancholy, then read the five ex cuses of Moses to the call of God found in Exodus 3 and 4, and you’ll find that Moses just didn’t want to serve God. He was afraid, he had every weak-kneed excuse that every melancholy has ever used for not serving God and God used him any way. Why? Because when Moses finally said, “All right Lord, I will be available,” then the Spirit of God came on him in power and he be came an effective tool. The Holy Spirit of God has an effect on us. He isn’t an oozing substance. He isn’t going to make us do some thing that we’re going to be em barrassed about or ashamed of. He can deliver such a person from all his misery and frustration. Memor ize Galatians 5 :22 and 23, seeing the nine characteristics w h i c h are strengths of the Holy Spirit. Some of the fruit you have by nature; 15
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker