Knowing Yourself Knowing God

Dr. John Shackelford, Christian psychologist, wants to help you know yourself. Your journey starts with being honest about your life and what you have been through - the good and the bad - and considering how it has affected you. He then offers three personality systems which have helped him and which can help you know yourself better: Myers-Briggs, ego states, and Enneagram. While there may be no one exactly like you, there are many people with whom you share personality traits. The Myers-Briggs has sixteen types. You will fit one of those. The Enneagram offers nine types. You will see yourself in one of these. The Enneagram adds value as it describes the deeper dynamics which limit you. This knowledge helps you move beyond your ingrained way of living life, i.e. your ego-life. Learning about yourself can be fun at times, and hard at times. You will come to see your strengths and weaknesses more clearly. Dr. Shackelford also offers chapters on the ego, the False Self and the True Self. In your life you go through painful experiences where you flounder and fail (collapse of False Self). This life crisis, though difficult, can be a portal from your ego-run-life, to a healthy dependence on God, what the book refers to as a God-Led-Life. The author shares his own story of collapse and how he found God in a new way, despite being a Christian for years. Actually, knowing yourself better proves to be quite helpful in knowing God better and trusting Him to be the Lord of your life. In the second part of the book, Dr. Shackelford offers three chapters toward knowing God better: God's Gift, God's Will, and God's Desire. This can serve as a foundation for beginning to "pursue God." The last section of the book is very personal. It is the story of six individuals who made a consistent effort to pursue God and journal their experiences. The reader can see how these six Christians moved from an Ego-Led-Life to a God-Led-Life. On this journey life becomes less about striving for love or significance, and more about knowing and following God/Jesus. As one's identity becomes secure in the unconditional love of Christ, the believer understands that life is not about what we can do for God, but about what He has done for us. This book was written to increase awareness of self and God, so that one may in humility accept the riches of knowing Christ in a intimate way. Following Him flows from deep attachment, gratitude, and having learned to hear His voice. The reader may come to better understand St. Paul who said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. " Galatians 2:20 NIV.