The freestyle stroke reflects a Type A personality, characterized by being hard-charging, ambitious, impatient, and driven. Such individuals make a big splash in their endeavors, focusing on finishing the job with an all-work, no-play approach. The backstroke represents a sentimental or laidback personality, or at worst, someone living in the past. These individuals move forward in life but do so by feeling their way, as their perspective is backward-looking, possibly reluctant to face the future. The breaststroke symbolizes a timid, uncertain, or fearful personality. These individuals lack clear goals or ambitions, lurching from one thing to another in a staggering manner through life. The butterfly stroke embodies a confident, open, self-controlled, and coordinated personality. These individuals exhibit internal propulsion, moving forward with poise and efficiency, without making a big splash.

Personality often masks an inferior core, as seen when something that looks substantive and delicious on the outside proves empty and disappointing on the inside. The term "sincere" derives from Latin words meaning "without wax," indicating that something is genuine and has nothing to hide. In contrast, insincere suggests someone is concealing a flaw, making something appear to have quality when it is defective. The personality ethic, which emphasizes charm and outward appearance, has replaced the character ethic in society, leading to a generation of leaders who rely on superficial techniques rather than genuine convictions. This shift from the character ethic to the personality ethic results in duplicity, as individuals relying only on personality are seen as frauds. A baseball, representing the character ethic, has a firm core of God's law, wrapped with layers of instruction and covered by personality, which is firmly stitched to the core by God's Spirit. Conversely, a basketball, symbolizing the personality ethic, has a handsome cover but lacks a core, being inflated and vain. True goodness cannot be faked or externally attached; it must emanate from within, transformed by God's Spirit at the core.

The heart is often used in the Bible to describe human character and personality. In other words, the heart describes the dynamic forces that make us unique individuals. As a result, the heart can be instilled with moral qualities. The heart represents human personality, and God looks there, in addition to our actions, to see whether we are faithful. We are called upon to seek God with our whole hearts so that is where He looks to see if we are His people. Our personality functions from many different aspects of our being. The Hebrew word for heart represents our thinking, remembering, our feeling, our desires, and our willingness. Applying your whole heart to God means that you must have heart! That is, you are required to have faithful conviction, courage, perseverance, hope, and most of all the love of God and His way of life, and our fellow brethren.