Enneagram Type 2: The Helper

Original Design: They love the people in their life fully and freely, helping other people realize they are valuable and wanted.

Desire: To be worthy of love.

Fear: Being rejected and going unloved by the people they care about. 

Subconscious childhood message: “Your own needs are not as important as the needs of others.”

Sin: The need to be needed. When they fear being unloved, twos try to earn that love by doing things for others in hopes that they would be loved in return. This causes them to manipulate others by figuring out their needs and desires, and then using that information to try and make them dependent on the Two.

At a Glance:

Twos are remarkably attuned to the needs and feelings of others, often before people are aware of them themselves. Twos are pictures of love—they are the first to give, serve, encourage, or listen to you anytime they sense that you need it. If they’re not careful, though, they can depend on their ability to love as a way to earn love in return. 

How to Know if You’re a Two

1. You absolutely love taking care of others. Even when it’s at your own expense, you’ll often still gladly do it.
2. You check in regularly with loved ones because you’re deeply interested in how they’re doing.
3. You’re more tuned into other people’s feelings than most other people.
4. Everyone you meet seems to think you’re their best friend.
5. People open up to you quickly because they trust you quickly.
6. You’re very generous and do a lot for people without asking for anything in return. But it does bother you when they don’t even say “thank you.”
7. You wish people were as attuned to YOUR needs as you are to theirs.
8. You’re an award-winning host/hostess—or should be, anyway.
9. You feel valuable when you’re able to give your time, energy, or possessions to someone.
10. You prefer to make decisions based on what feels most right rather than what seems to make the most sense.
11. You have a huge heart and can’t stand seeing anyone or anything in pain.

How They Work 

My sister-in-law Katie is a Two. Once, heard her say, “It seems like everyone I meet feels like I’m their best friend.”

Katie is a big-hearted giver. She quickly takes interest in other people and does everything she can to make them feel understood and provided for. If you need something, she’s got you. If you’re sad, she’s sad alongside you. If you get a promotion, she’s there to celebrate—and she’s already planned a party in your honor.

It’s not hard to see why everyone gravitates to her.

Twos are naturally warm, loving, and empathetic—quickly figuring out what you need and doing whatever they can to help you get it. Even if it means inconveniencing themselves. Because if you’re happy, they’re happy. And that’s all they need.

They have this way of making life all about the people around them, and it’s infectious. We all understand love better because of the way Twos love us.

Ian Cron says, “They’re the first to respond during a crisis and the last to leave a dinner party if there are still dishes to wash.” They’re generous servants, fabulous hosts, and loyal friends.

For a Two, the words “thank you” are the most beautiful words a person can ever say. Twos thrive off the gratitude they get when they give you something. That because a Two’s default setting is to attempt to earn love by providing for people. 

“Helpful” is how they long to hear others describe them.

All this focus on others can trick the Two into thinking it’s not right to care about themselves. When they have needs themselves, they’ll feel bad about it. So they’ll never address what THEY need. 

And then, when they need help, they often have trouble asking for it. Because secretly, they believe that asking for help means they could lose the love they’ve earned.

That tendency leaves them empty—emotionally, spiritually, and monetarily. Which keeps them from being effective lovers. 

How They Reflect God

If you’ve ever doubted that God loves you deeply, unconditionally, and with utter abandon…just look at how He made Twos. 

Watching them, you get a glimpse of God’s unfailing love for us in a way that no one else does. They’re called the Helper or the Provider for a reason—because they reflect the part of God that says, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters . . . even if you don’t have money. Come and eat without cost. Listen to me, and eat what is good—delight yourself in abundance!” (Isaiah 55:1-2).

Twos reveal the part of God’s heart that caused Jesus to wash his disciples’ feet. It was such a lowly duty that the disciples felt embarrassed and confused. 

Peter even said, “Lord, you will never wash my feet!” Among other things, Jesus was showing them that loving, serving, and sacrificing is a core part of God’s personality. 

And when we watch Twos, we get a crystal-clear picture of it.

Twos were designed to love fully and freely, without keeping score at all. In your time of need, a Two show’s God’s heart by making you their top priority—even if it means completely abandoning themselves. They’re just wired that way.

They can make you feel like the most loved, important person in the world. 

They’re a warm, loving space for people to open up about hard things in their life. When you meet them, you immediately feel they’re a safe place.  

They’ll listen to you, be with you, or even cry alongside you—and you can feel their willingness to put your weight on their own shoulders if that’s what you need. Just like God. 

Here’s why that’s so important:

Isolation is one of the key strategies the enemy uses to weaken us. Don’t open up about that, we hear. Don’t let people in. Don’t show people the true you—it’s too dangerous. 

But those fearful voices begin to lose their power when we have people around us who love us and are deeply invested in our spiritual growth and wellbeing. 

Twos living in their original design are able to love SO furiously and powerfully, that their love makes you believe in your true value even when you might be doubting it yourself. They make you realize you’re worthy of having health, love, and meaningful connection in your life. 

And that shows us more about God’s love than a thousand bestselling books ever could.

Where it Goes Wrong

The image of God is in each of us. But in each of us, it gets twisted by fear. And that’s where we start to see unhealthy distortions.Because Twos feel afraid that they will go unloved, they often develop an unhealthy need to be needed.

Twos long to feel loved and wanted. But during times in life when their identity in Christ gets challenged, one of their main fears becomes, “Would others really want me around if I ever stopped being helpful?” 

They’ll do anything to avoid that rejection. Because to them, relationships are the most important thing in the world. And anything that threatens them is public enemy #1.

Their fear of losing love pushes them into a deep need to be needed—as well as a compulsion to hide their own neediness. Because it feels like since others’ needs are more important, so it’s not okay for someone else to fill their needs.

According to the Enneagram, a Two’s core sin is Pride. And here’s where that comes from:

Because they want to be needed and they don’t see their own needs as important, it’s extremely easy for a Two’s gift of Love to twist into a savior complex. 

“What would you do without me?” 

When you’re willing to give everything to love another person, the healthy boundary lines start to blur. This is a broken world, and other people can start depending on Twos for more than they should. Some will even take advantage of you.

Twos have a hard time saying no to someone who seems to be in need. 

They feel responsible to help that person. Even if it’s not their business. Even if it’s an issue that person needs to deal with on their own. Even if helping that person would just enable the person to stay unhealthy.

There’s a line. And when a Two looks at someone’s pain and says, “I have to make it go away”—without first asking, “Is my helping here actually going to help in the long run?” … that line gets crossed.

They have to be able to differentiate which needs are true, where their love will make a positive difference, and which needs are false, where their love is going to turn into codependency—an unhealthy reliance on them by someone else, where the Two is needs them just as much as they need the Two.

All this keeps them from addressing their own needs, which runs them dry…fast.

At that point, it’s easy to start realizing how much they’re giving to other people, in comparison to how little they’re getting back from other people. 

And that frustrating realization can easily pull their minds and hearts into a place of anger and resentment of the people who aren’t repaying the Two’s giving with love.

Why They Embrace This Burden

The enemy’s lies cause us to believe our fear is actually helping us. 

And that’s why we’re so afraid to let go of it. 

When a Two believes that:

1. They have no needs
2. Others have tons of needs
3. The Two knows exactly how to solve those needs

…it makes them feel safe. 

Because if the Two had needs, or if they ever weren’t able to meet others’ needs, they’d be vulnerable to rejection. They might be seen as a burden.

Pride is a way they can cover up the scary reality that they actually do have needs—and gives them a reason to feel desperately needed by others. 

Imagine a voice inside you, saying, “Look at how life has played out so far. You know your friends love being around you because you care for them well. Never stop. Or you’ll lose all the love you’ve earned.” 

There’s a subtle lie packed into that message. And it can run a Two absolutely ragged. 

When you believe that your real self isn’t worthy of love without adding something to it, and you’re terrified of being unloved, it’s so easy to see your fear as an ally. 

The fear promises, “I can keep you safe from losing the love of those you care most about. But you have to let me drive.” And when that voice wins, Twos respond, “Okay. But in exchange, I want you to make sure I never feel abandonment.” 

So, when Twos don’t have a healthy view of themselves and God, they seek validation of their worth by serving others. They use their giving as a way to earn love.

Problem is, ironically, all the fear does is keep them from getting what they really want. Because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

When the “love” you’re giving people has strings attached—meaning, you require payment for it—it may keep other people around, but more out of guilt than love. No one wants to feel like there are strings attached to everything you do for them. True love is not earned—it’s freely given.

Where It Ends Up

As they agree to continue letting fear run their lives, they become more and more bitter. 

Feeling empty and unloved (while still denying that they have needs), they start holding grudges when people don’t repay their giving with the love they expected. 

When the Two gets to this critical emptiness point, they start thinking, “How could this person possibly leave me here alone instead of helping me?”

The “favor bank” is so out of balance and it’s infuriating to them, because their fear convinced them that it was the way to earn love in return. Where does all this constant giving and denial of their needs end up?

Twos lose their ability to be effective with their best gift: Love. Because they become so starved for love themselves, they get resentful that other people aren’t providing what they need. 

But it’s incredibly hard for them to say it.

Why?

First, because they’ve become convinced that other people’s needs are important, but theirs are not.

Second, because of their fear that others only love them because of the things they do.

Twos want to be fully known and fully loved. But if being fully known would lead people to stop loving them, they will squash their craving to be fully known.

The accusatory voice tells them, “Without having everyone indebted to you, what reason would they have to love you?” 

So instead, they keep internal score of what they gave and what they received. And eventually, they snap: 

“I offer to sacrifice my weekend plans every week. I make dinner for you. I run errands for you. I buy you things. But you don’t show up when I need help?” In a vacuum, this could be a healthy conversation. But the issue is that most of the time, the Two has allowed themselves to have so many unmet expectations that they explode on the person, guilting them and manipulating them into getting the actions they need in order to feel loved.

If this keeps happening, people may even avoid a Two’s acts of service and love entirely to avoid being put in a place where they “owe you one.” 

Because when a Two acts like there are no strings attached to their love, and then they surprise people with all sorts of strings they secretly attached to their love, people feel manipulated and guilted.

This is heartbreaking for the Two, because all they ever wanted to do was be helpful. They just want to love others—and then maybe one day, if it’s not too much trouble, also be loved themselves. 

And the saddest thing of all? All this can make them start believing they’re too needy, smothering, or “too much” for people—and because of that, they don’t even deserve love.

This is a lie. But it’s hard to see when you’re in it.

So…how do they grow into a healthier version of themselves, so they can become who they were intended to be?

How to Self-Actualize

A Two begins to transform once they start to realize they are already so deeply known and so deeply loved, apart from what they offer people. 

One of the biggest lies they struggle with is this: 

Love is a currency, like money. If I give you love, you will owe me love and pay me back. Or, in other words, “love is transactional.” 

To experience growth, this lie has to be replaced by a powerful truth that turns the lie on its head:

Other people’s love is not bought. It is not earned. Rather, true love is freely given—and it asks for nothing in return. 

At their core, Twos struggle with the idea that they are not worthy of love. And most of the situations in their lives have helped build that lie: Every time someone responds positively to their love, and repays their service with another service, it makes it seem like that’s how love works. 

But true love is given to you, and it asks for nothing in return. It’s free, it’s big, and it’s unending—and you have it from a God who believes you are worth loving even when you mess up, even when you’re ashamed, even when you feel like there’s nothing worth loving inside you. 

God says, “My heart is completely captivated by you. Because I see you for who you truly are. You are mine. I fully know you, and still I fully love you. There is no ‘not good enough for me.’ And there will never be. The deep love you’ve always longed for…has been yours the entire time.”

That message has the power to break the Two’s core fear that they are unworthy of love, and unleash the beauty of who they were truly made to be.

Because when you as a Two can stand on the fact that your Creator is absolutely captivated by you— the one who knows more about you than anyone else ever will—THAT is what frees you to love both sweetly and boldly without needing so much love and approval from people in return. It frees you to use their own gift of love how it was originally designed to be used. With no strings attached. 

And it starts to look more and more like God’s love.

It’s hard to grasp the weight of that. You understand and practice the love of God in a way that not many other people do. And you get to share that special connection with Him in your intimate relationship with him. 

How does it feel, knowing you might understand God’s love in a unique way other people won’t ever quite understand? It’s a sign of his deep affection for you.

Of course, the hard part is believing that “beloved” is actually your identity, day in and day out. Because when you’ve lived so much of your life believing you’re unworthy of love, it’s hard to hear God say “I love you” and always trust that it’s true.

And during the times when you fail to believe you’re fully known and fully loved, it’s easy to live out of the same old feelings of unworthiness and start trying to earn love all over again.

So, what does the journey toward believing you’re loved and stepping into your gifts look like?

The Pathway to Loving Fully and Freely

God originally designed you to be filled to the brim with God’s deep affection for you—to be covered by it each day and to let that free you to love without need of anything in return. 

1 Corinthians 1:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

What does it take to remain there consistently?

1. Pay attention to what’s happening inside you.

What a beautiful idea—that God might already be doing something inside you, that you just haven’t noticed yet. But once the eyes and ears of your heart perk up, you’ll find this is more true than you ever hoped.

God is going to start His work in a place that makes you uncomfortable: by working on your own needs. As a Two, you’re likely not going to want to focus on yourself at all, because you see other people’s issues as more important than your own. 

But by caring for your needs first, you are caring for every other person in your life. Because the healthier you get, the better you can love people. 

Imagine someone you love not prioritizing their needs. That’d break your heart. Know that God feels that way about you when you minimize yours. 

So to get started, ask yourself these questions (and don’t be afraid of the answers):

Where do you find yourself giving, flattering, or serving in order to earn someone’s love? What are your patterns? And what narrative are you telling yourself that’s causing you to do it?

You may discover that your actions are motivated by fear, a way to make yourself feel safe. Or you might find the motivation is a belief that you won’t be loved unless you give first. 

The big key here is to uncover your life’s narrative, the story you constantly tell yourself. 

Because in order to get healthier, you have to see if it’s really true.

Whatever you find, even if it feels bad or embarrassing, embrace it. Because the truth is, the dirty things you find within yourself are simply twisted versions of amazing things put inside you by God. And His goal for you is to start untwisting them. 

Here’s the beautiful thing about God: He only asks us to show him the dirty rooms in our house because He wants to make them clean—which only He can do.

And as He uncovers the embarrassing parts and begins to clean them, you finally start seeing the beauty of the person God created to be—a wonderful expression of His own love and faithfulness and warmth. We start to understand God’s heart better, simply by looking at your life.

The healthiest Two is free to love others without expectation of any love in return, because they are aware of (and being filled by) the boundless love of the Father. No strings attached.

2. Notice the identity you’ve built.

As a Two, it’s extremely easy for you to build an identity around being needed. 

This happens because being needed makes Twos feel wanted and important. Lots of other types do this too. For instance, a Five might build an identity based around their intelligence. But often Twos feed off the idea that others can’t live without them. So, without realizing it, they build their lives to create codependent situations.

Where do you see this identity being built in your life? 

How has it satisfied you in the past, and where has it failed to fill you? 

Has it left you feeling empty?

Stepping out of this need to be needed is one of the biggest keys to spiritual growth for a Two. That’s why Ian Cron advises Twos to ask themselves, “Who am I when no one needs me?” 

My friend Audrey (a Two), in her most unhealthy season of life, was told by someone: “You’re nothing and nobody if you’re not serving, giving, loving.” She felt caught off-guard, but she knew she needed tough love.

He continued: “Stop playing God. You suck at it.”

Whew. Shots fired.

But she said it actually gave her so much freedom. 

Freedom not to intervene, not to be needed. Freedom to need God. And freedom to embrace God’s message in 1 Corinthians 12:9—”But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Where might God be offering you a new identity, one without needing to be needed, so that you can step into the new story He’s built for you?

3. Let God consistently replace the lies with a greater truth.

After you’ve believed a lie for so long, it doesn’t just “go away.” 

So how do you banish forever the idea that you are only worthy of love when you are doing things for people? 

How do you come to adopt your new identity and step into that new story?

The solution’s simple, but not always easy:

Make a habit of spending time with God each day and ask him how he feels about you. Then, listen.

The single most powerful way to change how you see yourself is by coming close to God on a consistent basis, and letting him do it for you.

Sit in silence. Read the Bible. Do something that makes you become aware of what God might be saying. 

When you let Him whisper “You are loved” into your ear over and over, it slowly starts tearing down the foundation all the lies have been built upon.

And all of a sudden, you don’t have to work as hard to earn validation from other people. The fear of abandonment loses its power, because you know that the One who loves you most will NEVER abandon you. 

4. Learn to say NO. 

This is the scariest word in the English language for Twos. But being able to say no is one of the signs you’re becoming spiritually healthy. Because some things aren’t yours to do. 

Unhealthy Twos are quick to develop savior complexes, because the phrase “I couldn’t survive without you” feels so incredibly good. But it can quickly lead to unhealthy levels of codependency. 

Certain people will be quick to take advantage of you if you’re unable to say no. And the truth is, it’s not okay for someone to slap their unhealthiness on your plate like it’s your job to fix it all for them. 

It’s not okay for someone to guilt you into helping them. And it doesn’t mean you have to do it. As a Two, part of your growth is developing a heightened sense of smell for these unhealthy situations.

How? 

Try to make a habit of asking God, “Have you called ME to do this, or have you released me from this because you have other plans to take care of it?”

Be brave enough to say no—both to other people asking you for things and to your own desire to earn love by helping them. Healthy Twos know which jobs are theirs to do, and which jobs they can say no to without having to feel guilty. 

What Does the Ultimate Two Look Like?

When a Two is operating in their original design, they love fully and freely, without needing or expecting anything in return. They hold families, companies, and friend groups together like glue, hosting and caring and listening and giving. 

They become centerpieces of the lucky communities they’re a part of. And it’s because they are aware of—and actively being filled by—the boundless love of the Lord. 

They’re acutely aware of how much they are already loved. No longer are they loving out of poverty, longing for their love to earn them something to emotionally survive on. Instead, they’re loving out of abundance. Their love is an overflow of the boundless love they’re experiencing in relationship with God.

And best of all, they show the rest of us a glimpse of what God’s love looks like—because He’s made them to be a wondrously clear reflection of it.

Do you have any other thoughts about being a Two that should be covered in this post? Email me at [email protected].