What Are The Spiritual Temperaments?

The spiritual temperaments are typical ways that people connect best with God. Here are some of the temperaments that the Soul Workouts engage in (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Naturalist - love God best outdoors. These people worship in the midst of God’s creation. They celebrate His majesty and discover spiritual truths through nature.

• Sensate - love God through their senses. These people worship through sensual experiences — sights (like art), sounds (music), smells, and more.

• Traditionalist - love God through religious ritual and symbols. Worship through the sacraments of the Church. Structure, repetition (liturgy), leads to deeper understanding of God.

• Activist - love God through confrontation, fighting for godly principles and values. They worship through their dedication to God’s truth about social and evangelistic causes

• Ascetic - love God in solitude and simplicity. These people worship through prayer and quiet time, and the absence of all outside noise and distraction.

• Caregiver - love God by serving others, and worship by giving of themselves. They may nurse the sick and disabled, “adopt” a prisoner, donate time at a shelter, etc.

• Enthusiast - love God through mystery and celebration. These people worship with outward displays of passion and enthusiasm. They love God with gusto!

• Contemplative - love God through adoration. These people worship by their attentiveness, deep love, and intimacy. They have an active prayer life.

• Intellectual - love God when their mind and their hearts are opened up to a new attentiveness when they understand something new about God.

Shout out to Gary Thomas and his book Sacred Pathways. Much of this list is from his book.