“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to
be ignorant.”
1
Corinthians 12:1
Discovering and understanding your spiritual gifts is the
first step in realizing your SHAPE and how God has designed you. During this
post, hopefully you will begin the process of discovering your spiritual gifts.
Purpose of Gifts
In scripture there are a total of 19 spiritual gifts found
in three different passages: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. There are two purposes
for which God gives spiritual gifts. The
first is to glorify Jesus. Spiritual gifts are not meant to make one person more
important than another or given for your own personal pleasure. As you read
through 1 Corinthians you will understand how the church at Corinth struggled
with this. They had lost sight of glorifying Jesus with their spiritual gifts.
The second purpose is to edify or build up the Church. Our gifts are not given
to make us look good, but to encourage other believers.
What is the
difference between a talent and a spiritual gift?
A talent is a natural ability given by God to a person at
birth. Whereas a spiritual gift is a supernatural ability given by God at rebirth. A talent can be
anything from athletic ability to musical aptitude to artistic genius. God
allows a person to use his or her talents for many different purposes and in
many different capacities. However when it comes to spiritual gifts, God opens
up the ability of a person to be used by The Lord purposely and directly in His
work. A spiritual gift can spring from a natural talent, or it can be a
completely new ability that is "out of the ordinary" for that person.
All talents and spiritual gifts come from God. God will use talents and
spiritual gifts to accomplish His purposes. Everyone has talents, but not
everyone has spiritual gifts. Christians are the only ones who have spiritual
gifts because they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Ultimately, as a
follower of Jesus, we are called to use our talents and our spiritual gifts for
the glory of God.
Steps to discovering
your spiritual gift
Step one – Take
some time and study through the passages of Scripture that list the gifts - Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12,
and Ephesians
Step two – Experiment
through serving in your church. As you
try out different roles within the Church, your gifts will naturally come out. Unfortunately
many people want to select their gift and find the best place to serve. As you experiment
it is important to not idolize someone else’s gift. Too much envy happens within
the Church. God has given each of us different gifts.
Step three – Take
a spiritual gift assessment. There are many great assessment tools out
there.
Step four – Ask
others for input. Others will often see gifts in us that we can’t see
ourselves.
As you being the journey of figuring out your SHAPE, I would
be interested in knowing your spiritual gifts.
Please leave a comment listing your gifts or send me an email at pastorjabo@gmail.com. I pray as you seek the Lord that this time is
a great time of discovery and wonder for you.
