WHO IS A PERSON, WHO IS A PERSONALITY?

The dictionary definitions of the word personality are basically three as seen below:

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character, lively, engaging qualities, a celebrity or famous person.

These definitions of the word personality, are not quite in agreement with the meaning I am attaching to the word in this article. I will take my time however to explain to you, the difference between my own use of the word personality and the common dictionary layman understanding that we are all used to.

From the above dictionary definition, the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character, basically deals with describing a personality according to his or her physical features. It deals with what makes an individual the physical person that we can see. It is the natural distinctive features of different individuals. This definition is not by any means faulty or wrong, it is just what it is, what differentiates people from one another, using physical parameters.

According to the second definition of the word personality, which says a personality is a lively and engaging person, this definition talks more about the sole distinction of individuals. For liveliness, engaging qualities of an individual flows from a man’s soul, this is also a legitimate definition which differentiates individuals from one another by their qualities of the soul. Some are jovial while others are moody. Some are engaging while others are aloof. People are different. In this case we say individuals have their distinctive personalities.

The third definition of the word personality as seen above, is probably what has come to take the center stage of our modern vocabulary. We all probably owe this to the emergence of Hollywood and the American subculture. Such is this influence, that whenever you use the word personality these days, most people tend to think, that we mean celebrity, superstar, VIP, glamor and extravagance.

Since this understanding of the word personality has become an accepted norm in our modern world, we cannot but accept it.

But you and I dear reader, are on another journey into the word personality. Yes, a journey. A journey in discovery. What you will be discovering in this article might be best described to some as an adventure. An adventure into a new meaning of the word personality. An adventure into how such personalities are built. An adventure into qualities that form, the kind of people we are going to be talking about in this article.

My own definition of the word personality is an attempt to put into use a modern word to describe an old truth. The truth I am seeking to describe through the word personality is as old as the planet itself. It’s root can be traced to the heart of God.

I will therefore describe personality as a person or an individual, who has successfully formed in himself qualities that now make him to be looked upon as a deliverer of some sort.

“Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.” – Erich Fromm

We could say that a personality is a person who has abandoned the mundane lifestyle of mere mortals. Someone who has gone beyond the concerns for his daily bread and personal survival. Someone who now lives for something of a higher cause. Someone that wants to make a difference in his world, environment and generation.

“Taking personal accountability is a beautiful thing because it gives us complete control of our destinies.” ― Heather Schuck

According to this description, a personality is somebody who has decided to dedicate himself to a higher purpose. A man on a mission, not just to improve his own life and wellbeing. But, someone so consumed with the passion to make a difference in his environment and world at large.

God has always been in need of such people. Whenever you hear God searching for a man, He is talking about men who have formed their personalities. Men who have made their choice. Men who have burned their bridges. Men who have decided not to look back. Men who have decided to leave their footprint on the sand of history. Men who have chosen to forgo their comfort for the larger good of others. Thanks to their decision, they have become personalities. People whom others emulate. People who live an exemplary life. To me, these are the real people more than anyone, who deserve to be referred to as personalities.

It is in this context therefore that I will be using the word personality, man or person in this article.

“Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant, Or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the Lord’s servant? Seeing many things, but you do not observe; 

Opening the ears, but he does not hear. “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, Restore!” Isa 42:19- 22

In this passage above, it is rather easy to see the difference between ordinary men and personalities.

• It is a time in history, when men seem deaf and are incapable of hearing what is going on around them while possessing ears

• It is a time in history, when men lose capacity to see while possessing eyes

• It is a time in history, when His servants, God’s servants are easily seen among the blind and the deaf

• It is a time in history, when messengers of God, sent messengers, cannot hear instruction

• It is a time in history when, those who seem to be perfect lose the capacity to hear and the ability to see

• In such a time, history calls for the emergence of personalities.

• It is at such times that ordinary men, metamorphose into personalities.

• These personalities are later recognized as leaders of their people. Men among men.

MAY GOD RAISE UP MORE MEN LIKE THIS!!!

“The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired. One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley,

This is precisely the scenario that is being painted to us by the ancient Jewish prophet Isaiah. In the emergence of personalities, God is not oblivious nor aloof. It is His personal concern, that men will arise who will qualify for the envious role He has predestined for them from heaven. It is God’s burden and passion to see men standing up for what is right. Proclaiming and establishing God’s righteousness in all the earth.

It is the desire of God’s heart to magnify the law, His law. God desires for His will, His purpose, and His intentions to be magnified among His creations. It is God’s passion that His values and virtues would be made honorable in the earth. This explains the reason why God is well pleased with the emergence of personalities. Men and women who are tired of living a selfish lifestyle. Men and women that desire to live for other people. THESE ARE THE PERSONALITIES WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. Heaven and earth are awaiting their emergence.

“You are the only person that can create the future you want.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

How does it look when such men arise? How do we pick up a personality from among millions? That same scripture we read today, gives us a hint into how this could be done.

“But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, Restore!” Isaiah 42:22

Unlike the reaction of mere mortals who are preoccupied with their daily needs and personal survival, personalities actually notice the plight of others. They don’t just notice what is wrong in the society, but they carry the burden to provide relief to everything that is out of order in their world.

In the scripture we just read, the Lord God Himself is expressing His frustrations at what happens on a daily basis in our streets, cities and countries:

• People are robbed around us and most people just think, wow! It happens. What a pity. But personalities arise and lead a campaign to stop it.

“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” ― Brian Tracy

• People and properties are plundered either through theft, waste or corruption. In most cases, the masses are looking forward to their opportunity to also plunder. Others are busy looking for what to plunder from morning till night. While yet, others look on and shake their heads in utter helplessness, as if there were nothing they could do to turn the situation around.

At a time like this meanwhile, personalities show their true face. They raise their heads high. They stand tall against injustice and in some cases are ready to sacrifice themselves to stop the plundering of the innocent.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

• At a time when people all around us are being snared into one type of bondage or the other, ordinary men walk by and pretend not to see or notice anything. Most people who are called to make a difference have joined the club of the blind, deaf and the disabled. Unfortunately, often God’s servants and messengers are not exempt.

Despite the gloom, it is at such times that people arise who come crying with indignation at the evil that litters the land. They are the personalities. The deliverers. The saviors. They come carrying with them the message of hope.

• At a time when nations and people are as prey in the hand of the devourer. The world is letting all things run their course not noticing anything, not hearing any cry and not seeing any injustice. It is at such times, that the earth is desperate for help, for salvation and for deliverance.

The hope of the earth is normally recovered thanks to the efforts of men who have become personalities. They are men who have decided that the common good is greater than the individual wellbeing. They are men who are aware that no matter how wealthy they are, they remain poor if there remains any poor around them. They therefore leave behind their interests to pursue the good of the whole. Such are the men that we call personalities.

 “But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”  Isaiah 42: 22

In Isaiah 42:22, God’s complaint is that there are no deliverers and no one coming to the rescue of the people. No one is raising their voices to call for restoration. IT IS PERSONALITIES THAT PUT THE HEART OF THE FATHER TO REST. They carry heaven’s burden. They shoulder the challenge of their age. They give hope to earth. These are the men and women who have heard the heartbeat of God, they have seen His frustrations, they heard His cry and they have decided to respond. They respond with deliverance. They respond with salvation for the robbed. They respond with provision to the spoiled. They come carrying opportunities to the plundered.

It is thanks to these men – the personalities among us, that our world goes around. They bring restoration. They bring hope. They bring provision. They bring help. They bring passion. They bring compassion. They bring love. They bring empathy.

“There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.” ― Mandy Hale

The good news is that there is always a chance for each and every one of us, to go from an ordinary mortal to become a personality. What does it take? It takes men who will stand up and say, give back. It takes the guts of people who will risk their comfort and at times their very lives, to stand for what is right. It takes people, who are indignant to the fact that people are being plundered.

Becoming a personality is simple, you must notice those things that are being ruined around you and you must not be indifferent. To become a personality, you must open your eyes to the suffering of others and open your ears to their cry. To become a personality, you have to join the minority that are willing to stand up in the highway and command Satan, cry out to oppressive governments and people, to give back what they have taken from the oppressed.

Moses is a good example of a biblical personality. He grew up in comfort and abundance. He was transferred to the company of the immortals thanks to the fact that he decided not to be blind and deaf to the needs around him. He chose to be a God kind of personality. Today the rest is history.

Is it an easy thing to be a personality like Moses? You bet it is not. You probably remember his several encounters with Pharaoh? Things did not work out for him immediately just as they won’t work out immediately for us either. But Moses kept on coming back until he got what he came for. To become a personality doesn’t mean you will not face challenges. Perhaps you will face more challenges and trials than those who lead ordinary lives. But the good thing is that ordinary men, who are preoccupied with their comfort and survival, mainly become forgotten in history whereas personalities live forever.

Thanks to his responsiveness to the prompting in the heart of God, Moses was later reputed to be as a God unto Pharaoh. Wow! What an authority, what an elevation, what an influence. This is but only a little of the gain, that awaits those who decide to sacrifice themselves for the good of others.

Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot say this call is not to you. In fact it is! From the earliest of days, God has always been interested in using men to accomplish His purposes on earth. He has always desired to have real people, real personalities. In Genesis 2:5, we can see that even though God had made provision for the earth to function, yet He was limited because of the absence of a real man who would take responsibility for the earth that He had just created.

“…Before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground” Gen. 2:5

Ladies and gentlemen, did you notice that until God finds a personality, he does not give resources. According to God’s mindset, PROVISION IS UNNECESSARY WHEN THERE IS NO PERSONALITY. Provision and supply must all be entrusted into the responsible hands of real men. As soon as there arises a personality however, down pours the rain of abundance. A lot of blessings are being withheld in heaven from humans on earth just because there are not enough personalities to take responsibility for their management. This truth was further reinstated in Genesis 2:15

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Here we see that God Almighty could not commission the use of the Garden of Eden, until there was a real man who could stand up to take the responsibility of its management upon himself. That is a personality. In Eden, God was released to continue the process of creation and naming of animals, only after He had made sure that there was a personality. A person to cultivate and keep the garden.

“The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” ― Anne Frank

Dear brothers and sisters,

• What is heaven withholding just because of your unwillingness to emerge as a personality?

• What are the blessings that the earth is not experiencing only because heaven is waiting for you to be ready?

• What scientific discoveries is the earth not witnessing because you have not stepped out to pay the price of becoming a personality?

• How many cities and nations are languishing in pain and sorrow just because you have not become a personality who says give back?

• How many children are dying just because you have not risen to your full position on earth?

• How many mothers are languishing in pain and sadness because your personality has not risen to give them help?

• How many communities in the world are waiting for that water supply that is supposed to spring from your personality?

• How many nations and countries are in darkness only because you have not paid the price that is needed to release that electricity to them?

• What is the earth languishing in only because your personality has not been found?

• How much is heaven regretting and waiting for your personality to arise?

• How much longer does God need to wait for you to become the personality He wants you to be?

• Is there any hope that the mission for which you were created will be accomplished?

• Will you leave a mark in the sand of history of your generation?

• Will you be remembered as a history maker?

• Will the earth rejoice because of you?

• Will heaven receive you as a hero at the end of your journey on earth?

THE CHOICE IS YOURS…

FOR   THE   LOVE   OF   GOD, CHURCH   AND   NATION

By Pastor Sunday Adelaja