The study and understanding of spiritual gifts has always been a passion of mine. Spiritual gifts are God-given to those who are followers of Christ. It is true that each person needs to use the spiritual gifts that God has given so that the body of Christ is built up and strengthened.
Prophecy - speaking truth with faith
Serving - serving people like Christ
Exhortation - encouraging others
Giving - giving generously
Leadership - responsibility of leading others
Mercy - showing kindness towards others
My main spiritual gift is Exhortation. Exhortation is to call upon people to follow God’s truth. At times, my strength can easily become my weakness. I tend to over communicate when I speak at times. I’m learning that I am simply a messenger and that God will do the work in the hearts and not do it based upon how eloquent or passionate I am when I speak to people. My desire is to lift people out of their self-doubt or discouragement and seek to follow God with all of their heart. One of the ways I have begun to accomplish this is by spending more time in prayer before I speak or minister to people, so I am being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
My second spiritual gift is leadership. I thoroughly enjoy helping people get to reach their potential for Christ in their lives. The word leadership to me means to “guide” people into following God and seeking Him above all else. Leadership is an ongoing focus of leading people to a desired destination. Learning the difference between leading people and not pushing people to do something has been a process.
My lowest gift on the "test" is mercy. My wife is a mercy gift and I’m grateful for her to help balance me from focusing on the “right” things and to focus upon “how” I talk about what is right or wrong. Mercy is being able to feel the pain of others and be sensitive to their needs. I plan to begin learning how to watch how I come across to others so that I can effectively show the love of Christ. I pray that I develop more mercy in my life to show to others and to my wife.
One of the most sobering thoughts is that many Christians are living their lives without the knowledge of the gifts God has blessed them with and they are not serving. It is the responsibility of the leaders in every church to equip and help people find their spiritual gifts to bring glory to God. I plan to focus a considerable part of my life into developing people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. My desire is that God’s mission would grow and people would find their spiritual place of service to glorify God.
If you are looking for a way to to begin the discovery of your spiritual gifts, check out this inventory!
What are your spiritual gifts? How important is it for people to grow into how God has shaped them?