“When I stand before God at the end of my life,
I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left,
and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’”
~Erma Bombeck
Every Christian, upon their acceptance of Christ, is given a spiritual gift. This gift, designed to bless others in the community, the church, and your family, is part of your purpose in life. Knowing your own spiritual gift and understanding how it is to be used can be a great benefit to you and your circle of influence.
Knowing your gifting helps embrace God’s purpose for you. Equally so, knowing your gifting can help you understand what your purpose or your responsibility is NOT. It is not uncommon to find people serving in situations that they are not skilled to be in. Being out of step with your purpose may cause frustration and rob another person of the ministry they are called to do. If you are equipped with the gift of administration, maybe you should not be serving. Each of us should be serving in the pathway of our unique gift.
Knowing your gifting fills the need in your spirit to be aligned with your purpose. Understanding your purpose will help you know where you fit in a group situation. A group made up of all leaders will self-implode. To the contrary, a group with individuals of differing gift sets brings balance and harmony to the team.
The enemy strategizes to keep you in the dark about your true gifting. Serving outside of your best area of influence is his delight. There is a test you can take, either click here or sign up for my newsletter to take the test. Understanding Your Spiritual Gifts is a book about each gift, the pros and cons of the gift, how to use it, and then examples of biblical and modern women who have embraced their gift(s). Sometimes, having an example of someone with the same gift we have can help inspire us to move in the right direction. Below are listed the gifts. Once I understood my own gift, I clearly saw where I didn’t fit in and where I could use the skills and talents God gave me. It opened my world!
If you include Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and Corinthians 12 together, there are 16 spiritual gifts:
- Administration / Ruling
- Apostleship / Pioneering
- Discernment
- Encouraging/ Exhorting
- Evangelism
- Faith
- Giving
- Hospitality
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Pastor / Shepherding
- Prophecy / Perceiving
- Teaching
- Serving / Ministry
- Showing Mercy
- Wisdom
Which gift is the best?
One gift does not have more honor than another. Each is given as God sees fit. Gifts are given to build up and benefit a group of people created to work together. There are gifts that feel ‘showy’ or ones that we might prefer. That is not the way God created them. Each gift is designed to work in conjunction with all the others to the benefit of the whole body.
If we read further into the next chapter (1Corithians 13) we will see that above all else, each gift should be used in love to edify others rather than ourselves. In fact, we are warned that if we do not use our gifts with love, we cease to be a positive influencer. We become a noisy gong.
1Corinthians 13
13 If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may [a]glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it [b]keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c]prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the [f]greatest of these is love.
“Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow,
with gold at both ends.”
~ Aberjhani
