Growing as an Enneagram One: The PerfectionistSample

Saying No to a Deadly Sin 

Although the Bible does not mention the seven deadly sins, Christians have known about them for ages. The classification of these sins was first penned by Evagrius Ponticus, a monk who lived from 345–399 AD. This list has gone through many changes over the years, but it has remained a helpful way for us to name the vices that keep us in chains.

Each of these seven sins can be paired with an Enneagram number (with two extra sins to total nine) to give us a better idea of the specific vice that may be tripping up each type. The deadly sin that Ones struggle with the most is anger.

The Enneagram teaches us that the best things about ourselves are also the things that bring us the most pain. Our strengths are also weaknesses, which I feel is very true of anything that is a human strength. Only God uses talents, glory, and goodness in perfection.

For Ones, this plays out when your fixation on goodness, and doing the right thing, turns into a hyper-awareness of everything that is not good or right. 

· Being exceptional at grammar turns grammatical mistakes into eyesores that need to be corrected.

· Being a great driver makes the driving of others seem inconsiderate or stupid.

· Being a very clean person makes clutter and mess unbearable.

These are just three examples of how your focus on something good can turn into frustration around that same topic—especially because if you did something wrong, you inner critic often won’t let you hear the end of it, and it’s unfair that others get to break the rules with little or no consequence. Yes, this is a very frustrating reality.

As a One, you live with anger toward imperfections, injustices, and wrong behavior that you experience daily. However, anger as an emotion feels wrong. It’s hard to control, it’s big and rash, and it can lead to sinning in anger. So, Ones repress their anger, and instead of blatant, hot, volcanic anger, they experience a boiling frustration that never quite goes away.

Satan uses anger to distract others from how Ones reflect God. It’s hard to see the goodness when the frustration, criticism, and rules are so loud. This is why Satan uses anger as a temptation to Ones, making it their deadly sin.