Life Tips For Cholerics: Winning Spiritual Mind Battles

►Part 4 of a 6 part series
In the first part of this series, we explained how temperaments (based upon the Arno Profile System) affect how mind functions and how each type needs to wage spiritual warfare differently in this realm. We looked at melancholies and sanguines in previous posts and will now consider cholerics.

This post, and others in the series, are adapted from the NCCA newsletters containing articles in the “Temperament Corner” by Dr. Phyllis Arno.

Below are some typical life circumstances and associated thoughts that the Choleric might deal with. They are very much desirous of being in control in all life situations, are disdainful of those they consider emotionally weak and are wary of being controlled or manipulated.

• Being Dominated or Controlled
  • “I will walk off the job! I will not let anyone control me! I will trash the project before they tell me what to do!”
• Being Wronged
  • “I will get even if it takes me forever!” “Nobody gets away with doing this to me, nobody!”
• Weakness of others
  • “They are so weak! I could walk all over them and trample them.” “Why don’t they ‘grow some backbone?”
• Emotionalism in others
  • “Why can’t they just deal with their feelings?” Why do they carry their feelings on their sleeve?” “I can’t stand them I wish they would stop with the ‘water works’.”
• Lack of Recognition
  • “I did an excellent job and he/she did not even say ‘good job’ or ‘thank you’.” “This won’t happen again! I’ll never do anything for him/her ever again!” 
• Being Manipulated
  • “Just because they took care of me, does not mean that I now have to take care of them! I don’t like to be manipulated!”

Cholerics have great natural gifts in leadership. By submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Choleric can become the leader God created them to be. A good leader needs to know how to submit to authority; otherwise, how can they expect others to submit to their authority? A leader needs to “pave the way,” and in order to “pave the way,” they must walk the way first.Cholerics need to remember that “so much of self and so little of Jesus makes for a difficult and unfulfilled life.”

For the Choleric, escaping into their mind can actually be a private place to organize their thoughts as they do not want others to perceive that they are weak. They tend to also escape into their mind to dwell about the past. Thoughts about how they could have done a better job or thoughts about how they did not receive recognition for the good job they did are common place.