happy to be a mel.

i just finished a gem of a book called "temperament and the christian faith" by o. hallesby


i love when i read books like that... little, short books with powerful content, ones that few people talk about, books that are years old and maybe have been put to the back shelf with all the new books that are coming out all of the time.

this book was one of those kinds. i've already read a lot about temperament, but found this to be possibly one of the most valuable resources on the topic. specifically, God used the book to help me understand some more things in my relationship with alex [how he functions and also the strange ways that i function].

i loved his description of the melancholy. it was like reading about a day in the life of sarah costa, haha.


in celebration of this gem, i will share a couple of the quotes that impacted me:

"the struggle of one's own thoughts is like fighting a chimney sweep. the more we fight him, the dirtier we become. the more the melancholic individual struggles against his morbid self-centeredness, the more will his thoughts continue to circle around himself... the struggle must be continued daily. as often as he is convicted of his self-absorption, so often must he turn to christ to be renewed by him."


[after describing how melancholies are pessimistic, overly-sensitive, self-absorbed, critical, complaining... the "suffering" temperament of the four]:

"john, the melancholic, was the disciple the Lord loved. this fact i wish to underscore as a consolation for all melancholics. there are none that suffer so much as the melancholics. they have, as we have said, the suffering temperament. regardless of outward circumstances, it is the nature of melancholics to suffer."




"[in heaven] our temperaments also will be perfected. on the new earth under the new heaven, the saved will reflect their Creator's glory, not as exact copies of one another, but in an endless, varied multitude, proclaiming God's rich creation throughout eternity.

the divine masterpiece will be completed: the chorus of the redeemed of all ages will blend in perfect harmony, to the praise of his glory"

i cant wait!!

--from the archives