Jesus Christ: The Perfect Manifestation Of The 8 Cognitive Functions

To assess how psychologically healthy we are, it's helpful to evaluate the cognitive functions that make up the framework of our personalities:

Ni/Introverted Intuition - Broad & plethoric perception of internal world.

Ne/Extraverted Intuition - Broad & plethoric perception of external world.

Si/Introverted Sensing - Specific and concrete perception of internal world.

Se/Extraverted Sensing - Specific and concrete perception of external world.

Fi/Introverted Feeling - Subjective codec; internal emotional data & harmony.

Fe/Extraverted Feeling - Subjective codec; external emotional data & harmony.

Ti/Introverted Thinking - Objective codec; internal logical order.

Te/Extraverted Thinking - Objective codec; external logical order.

Each of us have personality types that are wired to be stronger on certain functions and weaker on others. So the goal behind achieving optimal psychological health is to strengthen those weak functions and learn to use all these cognitive functions in their healthiest forms.

Jesus was a perfect example of someone who used each of these eight functions in their healthiest states. When He walked the earth, He knew how to apply each function without being influenced by blindspots or subconscious tendencies to overuse any of them. Thus, no personality type would best capture the personality of Jesus. However, that's not to say that He didn't have a personality! Rather, His personality cannot be measured by any typology system or any human construct that we'd use to measure ours. While we could use the typology systems to track what cognitive functions Jesus would use in different contexts, no human typology system would ever be the right tool to measure what His overall type would be, because He was perfect at using all cognitive functions in a way that made His personality become un-typeable.

And that's why we can learn how to master all the cognitive functions based on how His personality manifested when He walked the earth (and how His personality manifests when He speaks to us today):

Ni/Introverted Intuition - Broad & plethoric perception of internal world.

versus

Se/Extraverted Sensing - Specific and concrete perception of external world.

Jesus' Perfect Use of Ni: inferring future implications with 100% accuracy, able to ensure that His plans for the future can truly succeed

Jesus' Perfect Use of Se: bringing forth all of creation into a reality that could be tangibly experienced

Jesus, being the Son of God and God Himself, knew how to use Ni to come up with parables that would illustrate important themes and lessons about the Father, who He was, and how we ought to live for Him. Throughout His ministry, He stuck to the same overarching principles about God's nature and His will for humanity.

Furthermore, Jesus's Ni knew how to accurately foretell the future, since He was God Himself and had the power to control what was yet to come. His plan to come to earth, minister to people, and die on the cross demonstrated that He always ensured that He took control in ways that the Father wanted Him to.

However, Jesus also knew how to keep His intuitive perceptions objective by attending to reality with Se. While He used Ni by telling parables to teach abstract lessons about how He was the Son of God who came to save all of humanity, He also used Se to prove in reality that He was who He said He was. He gave us solid evidence that He was God by performing many different miracles that included instantly healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, properly feeding thousands of people with only five loaves, and a list of other actions that, if "every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25).

Additionally, surrendering to the will of the Father guided Him to surrender His control when the time was right. In the garden of Gethsemane, He accepted the chaotic events that resulted in His suffering and nailing to the cross. And throughout His ministry, He addressed a variety of spontaneous events that called for Him to perform miracles to help people in the present moment.

Overall, Jesus's devotion to the Father guided Him to perfectly balance His surrender to God's will for the present, and His efforts to be well-prepared for the future to fulfill God's plan. Thus, He was able use Se to surrender to God's will, and perform a variety of tasks in reality that would support the validity of His Ni's abstract lessons about Himself, God, and how we ought to live for Him. And He was able to use Ni to control the future according to God's will, as well as develop a perfect understanding of abstract ideas and lessons (while using Se to maintain a perfect awareness of how the events in reality would verify those abstract claims).

Ne/Extraverted Intuition - Broad & plethoric perception of external world.

versus

Si/Introverted Sensing - Specific and concrete perception of internal world.

Jesus' Perfect Use of Ne: making the world with limitless creativity and with unconventionally wonderful approaches

Jesus' Perfect Use of Si: adhering to the laws and commands the Father established

Jesus also knew how to use His intuition via the Ne approach, which He demonstrated through His interactions with the Pharisees and anyone who was too stuck in their traditions. He had unconventional approaches to traditions such as the Sabbath day and the Mosaic Law, highlighting new ideas about how people should handle these customs. The Pharisees had instituted a complex system of Sabbath laws of their own that was oppressive and legalistic, making themselves lords of the Sabbath, thus making themselves lords over the people. But Jesus was highlighting an unexpectedly new idea about how to approach these laws, teaching that He was the original Lord of the Sabbath and thus had the authority to overrule the Pharisees’ traditions and regulations. Because He had created the Sabbath (and the Creator is always greater than the creation), He therefore had the authority to correctly interpret the meaning of the Sabbath and all the laws pertaining to it. The Lord of the Sabbath had come, and with His death and resurrection He became the fulfillment of our “Sabbath rest.” This salvation we have in Christ has made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding. This was a new principle that needed to be established, and Jesus didn't allow traditions to hold back the new conceptual lessons that needed to be learned.

However, this didn't mean Jesus was devaluing the importance of laws and traditions, nor did this mean He was abolishing any old laws. Using Si, He made it clear that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Jesus fulfilled the Law by obeying it and teaching others to obey it. By living a perfect life without sin, Jesus fulfilled the moral laws; by sacrificing Himself to die on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws. So Jesus did not come to destroy the old religious system but to build upon it by finishing the Old Covenant and establish the New. His ability to bring order can further be seen by how He brought order when He was creating life and the world, organizing it into the resulting universe and the orderly life forms that dwell in it.

So Jesus's devotion to the Father guided Him to perfectly balance His openness to new ways of handling life according to the Father's will, and His adherence to customs that God would never change. Therefore, He knew how to use Ne to properly bring up new principles and conceptual lessons in order to build on or correct a previously inappropriate tradition for following laws (as the Pharisees were doing), but He also knew how to use Si to identify the laws that ought to persist.

Fi/Introverted Feeling - Subjective codec; internal emotional data & harmony.

versus

Te/Extraverted Thinking - Objective codec; external logical order.

Jesus' Perfect Use of Fi: insurmountably loving the Father, living up to His values by demonstrating unshakable love and passion for His creation and the people He brought into the world

Jesus' Perfect Use of Te: effectively carrying out the will of the Father with 100% success through many miracles to fix the brokenness in the world and enhance the quality of people's lives

Jesus used Fi to live up to what He valued, so that He would stay true to His identity as the Son of God. His value for the Father prompted Him to devote quality time to pray to Him and rejoice in Him. Furthermore, He valued people because they were His creation, and He created the world out of love. His love drove Him to instill the beauty and wonder in the world to demonstrate His glory and love. And His deep passion and love for humanity drove Him to proclaim His identity as the Son of God who alone can save them. Thus, Jesus walked the earth with a perfect sense of contentment, peace, and joy that came from within, because He knew how to address what was important and valuable to Him. However, in addition to being peaceful, patient, and longsuffering, Jesus also didn't hold back from demonstrating righteous anger when the time was right. When there money changers and people selling doves in the temple, He was prompted to drive them away, angry that they would disrespect a place that was important to Him. And furthermore, Jesus was very aware of the evil that has thwarted parts of His creation, so He is driven to one day rid the world of evil and all that would ever threaten what's valuable to Him. As God, He will not hold back from being an all-consuming fire that would destroy all forms of evil, because He is personally driven to restore the world that He loves.

Additionally, Jesus also knew how to take time to Himself. He knew how to look after others when they needed Him, but He never neglected personal time with His Father.

Nevertheless, Jesus never let His passion and personal values drive Him to neglect logic. He knew how to use Te to evaluate what other people needed, and what would reasonably work to help others achieve what they need. He performed miracles to successfully heal the sick, gave to the poor, cast out demons, raised the dead, fed thousands of people in need of food, and accomplished many things that met the needs of many people. And finally, His death and resurrection on the cross is also great example of how He used Te to understand a reasonably effective, successful way to ensure the well-being of others.

Thus, Jesus's love for the Father guided Him to perfectly balance His efforts to uphold His personal values for the Father and His efforts to serve the needs of others out of honor for the Father. His use of Fi gave Him the passion and drive to stay true to His identity as Lord and Savior of humanity, which prompted Him to use Te to understand and serve the needs of others. Using Te to serve others would also prompt Him to use Fi to apply principles that He personally valued (i.e., love, mercy, forgiveness, etc.), so that He could meet their needs wholeheartedly.

Fe/Extraverted Feeling - Subjective codec; external emotional data & harmony.

versus

Ti/Introverted Thinking - Objective codec; internal logical order.

Jesus' Perfect Use of Fe: instilling a warm and nurturing love that would always bring comfort and hope more than anything or anyone else ever can

Jesus' Perfect Use of Ti: understanding the underlying reasons behind every possible question that could be posed

There were many times when Jesus demonstrated the healthiest form of Fe. For example, instead of stoning a prostitute for her actions (as was customary), He had mercy on her and forgave her for her sins. He was moved with compassion whenever He saw other people suffering from loss, illness, or torment, and His compassion prompted Him to save them from their afflictions so as to bring them peace and healing in the glory of God. And of course, His death and resurrection on the cross is a great example of how much He wanted us to experience the peace, joy, and contentment of eternal life with a loving Father. His commands to love one another just as He loves us further demonstrate His desire for peace and harmony among all people, so that all could experience the value of what it truly means to love and be loved.

However, there were also many times when Jesus did not hold back from proclaiming the truth about who He was and why He was here on earth. He clearly stated that He is "the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."(John 14:6). Although Jesus wanted people to experience the joy and peace that came from surrendering to God and have everyone living in harmony with each other, He wasn't afraid to tell the truth even if it would displease people or cause division. Proclaiming that He was the only way to the Lord caused much discord throughout Israel, and such discord spread across the world and continues to this day. Though Jesus never wanted to create such division, He knew it was still important to stay true to who He was as the Son of God even if it would turn people away from Him and against those who believed in Him. He knew that proclaiming His own reasons for walking the earth would allow souls to be saved if they choose to accept the truth about His identity.

Thus, Jesus's love for the Father guided Him to perfectly balance His efforts to bring value to others so that they can also feel the love for and from the Father, and His efforts to stay true to His personal reasons for coming to earth to accomplish the Father's will. He knew how to properly use Fe to bring love, joy, and peace to others, building them up as valued children of God. At the same time, He stayed true to His identity by using Ti to highlight His reasons for walking the earth and why it was important that He did what He purposed to do for the salvation of our souls.

FINAL POINTS: Jesus offers the sources we need to use these cognitive functions healthily

The spirit is what fuels us to have free will to choose good over bad. And our spirits were breathed by God Himself, so only He can provide us the proper nourishment for your spirits to fuel our free will to be able to choose goodness. Unfortunately, because our spirits cannot compare to the supreme goodness of God's Spirit, it is impossible for us to connect with Him on our own free will. Our spirits are simply too weak to choose such goodness. Plus, using our free will to choose sin has tainted our spirits to become unable to handle or be worthy of connecting with such goodness.

This is why Jesus came into the world to ensure that we overcome that barrier. He died in place of us so that our spirits and overall being would be free from the limits of evil. Thus, by accepting Him as our Savior, we become more fully connected to God and more genuinely inclined to use our free will for good (people can use their free will for good, regardless whether they are saved, and even when saved, people can still use their free will to do bad; the main point is that when we are surrendered to Christ and accept Him as our Savior, we will be genuinely driven to use our free will for good, as an expression of our love and devotion to Him, as a way to bring Him all the glory since ultimately He is responsible for all the goodness in the world). Once we are driven to use our free will for God's glory, we will use our free will to use our cognitive functions in a healthy manner, the way Jesus would use them to glorify the Father.

How to know if we are using our free will to make good choices with our cognitive functions and any area of life? First, it is important to note that God nourishes our spirits with fruits of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23). This means there is never a time when we should refrain from partaking any of these fruits, because our spirits will always need them for optimal well-being. And when we embrace these fruits that God gave us, not only will we experience them, but we will also be driven to help others experience them as well; thus, by the fruits of one's works can we tell if someone's spirit is truly being influenced by God (Matthew 7:16). Only when our spirits are influenced by God can we be influenced to make good choices and have good free will when choosing how to use our cognitive functions and making any choices in life.

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Helpful Sources:

The Pursuit of Self-Realization | Pastor Tony Chung | Jubilee Seoul - YouTube - Jubilee Church sermon

The Pursuit Of Health | Sam Lopez | Hillsong California - YouTube - Hillsong Church Sermon

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