The Enneagram and the Integral Connection Between Knowing Yourself and Knowing God

In our fast-paced, mechanized world, quiet and stillness are not priorities. Self-reflection is not a cultural value. It seems like everything is designed to keep us from doing the very thing we need to do to walk in peace and purpose on the earth: know ourselves and know God.

Many people don’t stop to think about the connection between these two things, but they are intricately connected. Contemplative monk and mystic Thomas Merton explains this succinctly and beautifully:

“There is only one problem on which all my existence,

my peace and my happiness depend:

to discover myself in discovering God.

If I find Him I will find myself

and if I find my true self I will find Him.”

Merton’s not the only one who understood this vital truth. John Calvin said it this way:

“Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”

Our modern, “advanced” culture has somehow lost this understanding of the critical convergence of self-knowledge and God-knowledge. I’ve benefited tremendously from learning about this convergence, and that’s why I wrote my second book, Know Yourself to Know God. I wrote this book so that people could have a firm foundational understanding of how personality works and also have an opportunity to begin a daily journal that puts that understanding into practice.

The book is divided into two sections. The first presents an overview of personality theory. It discusses:

• The difference between your soul and your spirit. This is a huge point that many people get wrong, which prevents them from knowing how to grow spiritually.
• The personality, where it comes from and why it is not who you truly are
• The Inner Critic. Everyone know what that is: the critical voice in your head that makes judgements about you and others. This voice tells you things about yourself that aren’t ultimately true, wounding and inhibiting you from being the self God made you to be.
• The Enneagram! Of course I’m going to include this transformative personality model in any discussion of identity and self-understanding. The Enneagram helps you understand where you got stuck; it’s not who you actually are. Instead, your Enneagram type is a set of patterns in your brain that dictate how you act and what you pay attention to. The Enneagram model provides a road map to get you unstuck, rewrite your brain patterns and help you to walk in a fuller expression of the purpose God made you for.

The second section contains a 30-day devotional journal experience.

• Each day begins with a quote from the first half of the book, a well-known wise person or the Bible.
• Then there’s a stillness practice. It starts with just 5 minutes, working up gradually to about 20 minutes. Readers may be tempted to skip this section, but I can’t fully convey how vital this practice is. It’s often uncomfortable and initially feels like a waste of time to some, or even unnatural, but it’s a must for being able to reclaim our true selves.
• Then there’s an exercise where you pay attention to what the Inner Critic has been saying and write down its judgements. This teaches readers to discern what the personality focuses on and begin to distinguish between its voice and the true voice of God.
• Last is a reflection time about the initial quote that requires some journaling.

The book came out on March 14, 2025. If you’re reading this before April 7, you have the chance to win the ebook version of Know Yourself to Know God through my Goodreads Giveaway at https://tinyurl.com/t6y7bey3. If you’re not on Goodreads yet, it’s free and easy to join!

If you don’t want to wait to buy the book, or you missed the deadline for the giveaway, you can click here.

Blessings on your journey toward your true self, greater knowledge of God and a fuller expression of your destiny!

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