Spiritual Health and Wholeness with the Enneagram

Have you heard of the enneagram? I first heard about it at a Christmas party. I was intrigued by everyone laughing and joking about their “number.” Soon after that party, I took assessments, bought books, and listened to podcasts about this ancient tool used for self-awareness. Many years later, I am excited to have been learning how the enneagram is a valuable tool for spiritual formation, leading to health and wholeness.

Before I start, I want to let you know that if you are a Christian and are against the Enneagram, I am not here to talk you into liking it. If you are here today to learn all the ins and outs of this tool, that is not what you will find here. (But I do want to encourage you to investigate.) If you are here to learn some basics about how the Enneagram, appropriately used, can help you grow in knowledge about yourself, help you grow closer to Jesus, and help you show empathy, compassion, and love to others, then please keep reading.

As I mentioned, the Enneagram is a tool. It is not a necessary resource for humans to flourish. It cannot transform you into Christ-likeness. God does the transforming. A.J. Sherrill, author of The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation, writes, “...as a tool, it has proven to be incredibly useful in revealing what motivates our behavior as humans and in showing whether our choices are leading to health and wholeness.”

Here, we are going to take a brief look at how understanding your number or type can help you to 1) learn more about yourself, 2) grow closer to Jesus, and 3) learn to love others in a more like Jesus does

How The Enneagram Can Help You Learn About Yourself

Once you discover your number, you will find that your personality type has strengths and weaknesses, a core fear, a core desire, and more. In discovering your number, you can learn how you operate in health and unhealth. With this information, you can learn what changes will help you move toward health and wholeness.

For instance, I learned I am a 2w1 (Two, wing One). A two is most commonly called the Helper and is in the heart triad. A Two is often described as loving, caring, and a befriender. Strengths of Twos include being thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and generous. Weaknesses of Twos include neglecting their own needs, being manipulative to get their needs met, and being passive-aggressive when unappreciated.

In learning about myself, I can learn how to make different choices that move me into health and wholeness and closer to the person God intended me to be: the person who is secure in God’s unshakeable love.

How the Enneagram Can Help You Grow Close to Jesus

The Enneagram shows us our core fear, desire, weakness, and longing in each type. When we know ourselves, we can better appreciate how God made us and ask him to help us with our weaknesses, fears, desires, and longing. The goal is to have these areas of our life more in line with his originally intended design for us as image bearers of God. The Enneagram gives us a roadmap to where we need God’s healing most. 

As Christian leaders are experiencing the Enneagram as a helpful tool in Christian life, more and more resources are being made available that pair up specific spiritual practices and scriptures to aid in healthy spiritual formation. 

For instance, Ones struggle with the need to be perfect and right. Scripture that may be helpful to meditate on would include Romans 5:8, “..but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” and Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus.” Spiritual practices particularly helpful for Ones include walks in nature and abandoning outcomes to God.

In learning more about myself and God, I can grow closer to Jesus, growing in my understanding of his love for me, my love for him, and my love for others.

How the Enneagram Can Help You Love Others Like Jesus

Learning to love like Jesus is a lifetime endeavor. God is working in us to form us to be a blessing to and for the sake of others. On the path to loving others like God are characteristics such as compassion and empathy. When we understand how people with each of the nine numbers approach life with their core fears, desires, longings, and weaknesses, we can be more understanding, compassionate, and empathetic. We can grow in a greater appreciation of our fellow man; each image bearers of God, with their specific struggles and needs. 

This tool can improve our relationships at home, work, and church. With this tool, we can intentionally communicate with one another with each person's type (number) in mind.

When we have a basic understanding of another’s core weakness, fear, desire, and longing, we can be more patient and understand how they approach life. 

Further Resources

I hope you can see what a valuable tool the Enneagram can be. Of course, like anything else, it needs to be used in a way that brings health and wholeness and is not abused to bring hurt and pain. It is a tool that can be just fun and interesting, but it can also help you thrive in your relationships. It is a tool that can lead to a life filled with more peace and less stress. 

If you want to learn more, I have listed several of my favorite books below, describing their particular focus. I hope you will find one (or two!) that will help you along your journey.

1. Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith by Bill and Kristi Gaultiere — This is my newest enneagram book, written by the founders of Soul Shepherding, where I am receiving my Spiritual Direction training. As the title says, this book shows you ways to grow emotionally and spiritually through understanding the Enneagram. It is so well organized, practical, and easy to read.

2. The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation by AJ Sherrill — This book shows you how knowing ourselves can make us more like Jesus. This book helps show the reader how their personality type shapes their faith journey.

3. The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut — This was my first book on the Enneagram, and as the title states, it is complete and thorough. If you want to be more of an Enneagram expert, this may be the book for you. The book includes topics you don't find everywhere, such as information about subtypes and antitypes. Clear and comprehensive. 

4. Becoming Us by Beth & Jeff McCord — Gospel-centered and focused on the marriage relationship, this book is very practical and thorough in helping you understand how to better be in a relationship with another number. It benefits those with marriage in the near future or those who have been married for decades.

5. The Enneagram in Love and Work by Helen Palmer — This is not a book that I have read cover to cover. Still, it has been constructive and insightful, particularly in helping me understand better the dynamics of working relationships. It is excellent for those who are in leadership or who work in team environments.

Being intentional to take the time to learn about yourself and others for the Kingdom of God is time well spent. I hope what you learn will be as helpful in everyday life as it has been for me.

The Old/New Principle: How We Can Gain Wisdom From the Past and Present

As the summer season is coming to a close, along with the wedding season, I am reminded of the wedding rhyme that says, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in her shoe.” The ancient rhyme originated in England in the Victorian era and was meant to bring good luck to marriage. Although I’m not a big believer in luck, I think this is a fun tradition and one I partook in at my wedding ceremony many years ago.

Today, I’d like to look at the wisdom in the phrase “something old, something new.” In a culture that always draws our attention to what is new, there is wisdom in remembering and learning from the old. In the older generation, a wish for the old (the way things used to be) and a temptation to resist what is new often grows. The wisdom lies in living and learning from both the old and the new.

I have found that some of the most mature, vibrant, and growing Christians have been those that live out the wisdom of the old and the new. Below are some ways you can lean into this life habit which brings more learning, fulfillment, and understanding. Let us intentionally choose to learn and grow from those things and people who are new or young, as well as to learn from those things or people who are old.

“We are all made of stories.”

Areas to apply the old/new principle:

BOOKS: Famed author C.S. Lewis once said, “It is a good rule after reading a new book, never allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” I’ve never tried that, but I have also read that every 5th book should be old or a classic. Classic usually refers to a book 20 years or older, but it can also be a book or books that have been widely read in the past (not necessarily 20 years or more).

One area I have found to be very helpful is reading books that are not necessarily old but about people who lived long ago. Reading about those living in different periods, places, and cultures is instructive. In Christianity, it is life-giving and perspective-changing to read from the saints of old. When Hebrews chapter 12 talks about “being surrounded by so great a cloud of witness,” it refers to the Old Testament saints, and now over two thousand years later, can refer to those who have gone before us, 50, 100, or more years ago. 

Here are some books to help us live out the old/new principle:

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph — Written by the co-founder and first CEO, this book goes back to the beginnings of Netflix in 1997. A good book for helping one understand the period in the tech world where start-up was an everyday word.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown — A great story that just in the telling of the story gives the reader a good understanding of life in America in the 30s and the events that would change the world forever. 

50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith by Warren W Wiersbe — Inspiring stories 4-6 pages long on each of the 50 people. This is a great book to help pique your interest in reading about some old saints. Contains suggestions for further reading as well.

RELATIONSHIPS: Many years ago, I read in pastor/author Chip Ingram’s book Good to Great In God’s Eyes that it was important for Christians to be in a relationship with someone older and someone younger as well as with those in your age group. As I became and continue to be intentional about my relationships in this way, I have found this to be a model that I highly recommend. For me, someone older is around the same age as my mother or older, and someone younger is an adult who could be my daughter. I have gained so much wisdom and understanding from both groups of friends. This is a model where all parties learn and grow from each other's insights and life experiences. It’s also a model seen throughout the Bible. I like to imagine Mary and Elizabeth and how they both gained wisdom, courage, and encouragement from one another. 

BIBLE READING: Many Bible reading plans, whether daily or yearly, often include reading from the Old and New Testaments. Another fun study is to read the New Testament but find the Old Testament references as they arise. There are approximately 250 references from the Old Testament in the New. You can find various resources for the list of references on the internet.

This principle is also helpful for work, understanding and learning about our cultural context, and product development. 

My hope for you is that if you are a person who tends to seek the new that you will intentionally include the old, and if you are a person who desires primarily the old, you will intentionally also seek out the new. This deliberate shift can bring wisdom, understanding, and encouragement to your ordinary daily life.