Spiritual gifts are given to us by God to prepare us for the life God has for us. We are each gifted differently, and God will continue to help us in our gifts as we grow in Him. How do you find your spiritual gifts and use them well? Learn how to find and use your spiritual gifts for the glory of God.
Have you ever read through 1 Corinthians? There are so many gems in that book, but one of my favorite things to learn about in 1 Corinthians is the topic of spiritual gifts. Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Do you know how to find and use your spiritual gifts for the glory of God?
Spiritual gifts are not nearly as complicated as they sound from the name. They are literally just the natural abilities that God has specially gifted you with that can help in a church/Christ-centered setting. The passage on spiritual gifts in Corinthians names things like knowledge, faith, healing, wisdom, and a few others as being spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).
Throughout the bible, we will find that there are also other types of spiritual gifts (see Romans 12:3-8), so we are not just limited to the list in 1 Corinthians. But sometimes, it can be hard to identify what our spiritual gift is. Shoot, it can be hard to identify other natural talents in life too, so pin-pointing our spiritual gift can really take some time to recognize if we just aren't sure.
But thriving with our gifts for the kingdom of God is a huge honor as Christians. God didn't give us our gifts just so we could ignore them, struggle to find them, or avoid using them. No, he gave us these gifts to use with great joy as we do the things he has naturally gifted us to do, which often brings us great joy.
So if you are a follower of Jesus and want to identify your spiritual gift, or if you know your gift(s) but just aren't sure how to use them, I'm going to try to help you with that today.
How To Identify Your Spiritual Gifts
Pay Attention to Your Talents and Abilities
Your talents and abilities matter. God has gifted you in various ways. Some of those giftings are not spiritual gifts -- they are simply talents. For instance, being a good singer is not a spiritual gift, but it is still a talent you can use for God's glory. But if you start paying attention to what you are good at, it may help you find your spiritual gift(s) over time.
Are you good at making others feel welcome? Maybe your gift is hospitality.
Are people constantly asking you for biblical advice when they are struggling? Maybe you have the gift of wisdom.
It is helpful to know what your talents are when it comes to finding your spiritual gifts, but there's more to it than just that.
Pay Attention to Your Interests
What do you love doing? What makes you feel more like "you" when you do it? Your interests matter, because just like talents, God has given you interests for a purpose. It is likely that many of your talents and interests intersect. Pay attention to those -- especially the talents and interests you know work together to encourage other people towards Christ.
However, I recently read a blog post about how in Scripture, there was never any indication that believers were struggling to find their spiritual gifts, and there wasn't a crisis of having to take a quiz to figure it out. I can see that point too. So what I would encourage you to do is take a few spiritual gift assessments if you are unsure of your gifts. But temper this with looking at your natural abilities that you already know you posses. Don't just take the quiz and throw away all else in pursuit of using the gifts laid out in the test. A generic test is not God and we always need to be aware of God's leading in these areas too.
Lifeway Spiritual Gifts Quiz
This one is very detailed and you have to tally the results yourself. But if you like that sort of thing, it's probably a good one to take.
| Related Post: What are the Spiritual Gifts and How Can You Use Them?
Talk to a few people who fit that description about whether they feel your assessment of your gifts and your quiz results are accurate.
Getting wise counsel is extremely important and biblical, but we must always remember that humans aren't perfect. The Bible encourages us to seek godly counsel (Proverbs 12:15), as long as we remember to measure everything by Scripture. Human advice can be helpful, but we always need to make sure that the advice we are receiving is in line with what God says in His Word.
I can be a general encourager to the people around me (see my free, 3 day email devotional for more on this), I can use this blog to encourage, I can cheer my hubby on in his schooling, let the kids I nanny know that they are smart and valuable, or I can lift people up when they are having a rough day. There's not one set task I have to do if I am an encourager- and the same is true with every spiritual gift.
The primary purpose of your spiritual gifts are to point others towards Christ. However you choose to utilize your gifts, just make sure they are glorifying the Lord and point others towards Him. So sit down, list all the areas in which your gift could possibly be useful to that end, and get creative.
The truth of the matter is, all believers have at least one spiritual gift, and when those can be used, we will probably feel most "at home" and most useful. God wants us to use those gifts well, but that doesn't mean we should only serve with those gifts. God also wants to stretch us and grow us. He wants to use our weakness for his glory. So guess what... God will sometimes ask us to do things we aren't as good at. Does this mean he will ask us to be pastors just because we are bad at it, or ask us to be secretaries in the church when we are the most disorganized person there? Probably not. But He may ask you to speak up in a crowd to share truth, or ask you to help your mission team organize some paper work. And we can't just say, "No thanks, bro. That's not my gift!" every time our help is needed.
So when it comes down to it, whether we have clarity about our gifts or not, let's get our butts up and serve! Don't use your gifts (or lack of knowing your gifts) as an excuse to avoid serving the Lord. Our gifts are there to glorify the Lord and to build others up in Him.
Use Spiritual Gifts Tests and Quizzes
If you do a Google search for "spiritual gift tests", you will find quite a few. I believe that taking these tests (maybe a few different one's to compare the answers) can be helpful in finding your general abilities and strength, and if you've never taken one, it could be helpful.However, I recently read a blog post about how in Scripture, there was never any indication that believers were struggling to find their spiritual gifts, and there wasn't a crisis of having to take a quiz to figure it out. I can see that point too. So what I would encourage you to do is take a few spiritual gift assessments if you are unsure of your gifts. But temper this with looking at your natural abilities that you already know you posses. Don't just take the quiz and throw away all else in pursuit of using the gifts laid out in the test. A generic test is not God and we always need to be aware of God's leading in these areas too.
3 Helpful Spiritual Gifts Quizes
105 Questions Spiritual Gifts Quiz: Not my favorite but can be helpful. It gave a tally of every gift and what I scored in it, and then told me my top three gifts with a description of those three.Lifeway Spiritual Gifts Quiz
This one is very detailed and you have to tally the results yourself. But if you like that sort of thing, it's probably a good one to take.
| Related Post: What are the Spiritual Gifts and How Can You Use Them?
Seek Godly Counsel About Your Spiritual Gifts
Once you've identified the things you are good at and the things you are interested in, I would recommend talking to those around you who are wise and strong in the Lord about what you've discovered regarding your interests, abilities, and the quizzes you've taken. This can be a spiritually strong family member, a godly friend, your pastor, etc.Talk to a few people who fit that description about whether they feel your assessment of your gifts and your quiz results are accurate.
Getting wise counsel is extremely important and biblical, but we must always remember that humans aren't perfect. The Bible encourages us to seek godly counsel (Proverbs 12:15), as long as we remember to measure everything by Scripture. Human advice can be helpful, but we always need to make sure that the advice we are receiving is in line with what God says in His Word.
Brainstorm How to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
There are probably hundreds of ways for you to use the spiritual gifts God has given you. For example, one of my gifts is encouragement, which I can do every single day in many capacities.I can be a general encourager to the people around me (see my free, 3 day email devotional for more on this), I can use this blog to encourage, I can cheer my hubby on in his schooling, let the kids I nanny know that they are smart and valuable, or I can lift people up when they are having a rough day. There's not one set task I have to do if I am an encourager- and the same is true with every spiritual gift.
The primary purpose of your spiritual gifts are to point others towards Christ. However you choose to utilize your gifts, just make sure they are glorifying the Lord and point others towards Him. So sit down, list all the areas in which your gift could possibly be useful to that end, and get creative.
Research Opportunities In Your Area To Use Your Gifts
Once you've brain-stormed some ways in which you may be able to best use your gifts, start searching for opportunities in your area that align with what you discovered while brain-storming.
Get Up and Serve | Use Your Spiritual Gifts for the Glory of God
I found a post by The Gospel Coalition about why asking "what is my spiritual gift?" is the wrong question. One of the reasons the author feels this way is because sometimes when we know of a particular gifting we have, we will sit on our butts until an opportunity comes to use that gift. But the Bible tells us to serve one another in love. It never says to wait until our "one gift" is going to be employed.The truth of the matter is, all believers have at least one spiritual gift, and when those can be used, we will probably feel most "at home" and most useful. God wants us to use those gifts well, but that doesn't mean we should only serve with those gifts. God also wants to stretch us and grow us. He wants to use our weakness for his glory. So guess what... God will sometimes ask us to do things we aren't as good at. Does this mean he will ask us to be pastors just because we are bad at it, or ask us to be secretaries in the church when we are the most disorganized person there? Probably not. But He may ask you to speak up in a crowd to share truth, or ask you to help your mission team organize some paper work. And we can't just say, "No thanks, bro. That's not my gift!" every time our help is needed.
So when it comes down to it, whether we have clarity about our gifts or not, let's get our butts up and serve! Don't use your gifts (or lack of knowing your gifts) as an excuse to avoid serving the Lord. Our gifts are there to glorify the Lord and to build others up in Him.
How to Find Your Spiritual Gifts
- Pay Attention to Your Talents and Abilities
- Pay Attention to Your Interests
- Listen to Wise, Godly Counsel
- Use Spiritual Gifts Quizzes and Tests
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