How To Discover Your Spiritual Gift
Do you remember in Elementary School the “gifted” classes. I had a sister who was in ALL of those classes – she graduated as Valedictorian. I’ve always admired her intelligence – and truly she is gifted. I was the chatty sister – hence I grew up to write blogs!!! Haha!If there was a gifted class at church it would not be exclusive because God’s word says we are ALL gifted!
Romans 5:6 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” Then it goes on to list some of the gifts which include: serving, teaching, encouraging, leading, giving and mercy. (I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and I Peter 4 also talk about gifts of the Spirit if you want to read further.)
These gifts are usually called “Spiritual Gifts” and they are given to us freely by God’s grace to meet the needs of the body. When we use our spiritual gifts, the body is built up, encouraged and unified.
In the past, I found myself tempted to act like I had all the gifts (this was obviously prideful – I’m being vulnerable here) – I tried to be an encourager, evangelize, teach, serve, give, administrate, and lead. Then it hit me – I was over comitted and stressed out!
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I’m contibuting over at The Better Mom today – so visit me there to read how I discovered my Spiritual Gifts and how you can discover yours!
Walk with the King,
When God created me, he put in a extra dose of feelings. My husband is a thinker, I am an uber feeler. This does not always come in handy, as my feelings can get in the way at times. This does come in handy, though, in regards to my spiritual gift. God created me to love people in word and deed. As a nice little curve ball, though, I am an introvert. So, it takes effort for me to seek out people, but my desire all along is to love them.
And sometimes our gifts are in the area we are passionate but not always comfortable! God wants us to lean hard on Him for ministry. I really liked your quote about burnouts. Thank you!!
“Then it hit me – I was over committed and stressed out!”
AMEN sister!
My daughter in now in a Private Christian school (I home schooled too) that I can actually afford, and now I have time to get into my Bible which my youngest calls God’s Magic book! lol boy is it ever! Blessings have been bountiful since I put my nose in the magic book!
I always test high in the serving/giving area. I definitely have seen how burned out I get when I am doing things in my own strength versus relying on the Holy Spirit.
I read through the comments here and on The Better Mom. A couple things I didn’t see mentioned, that I thought I would say is first, to be careful not to go to far to the extreme. What I mean is not doing something because it isn’t your spiritual gift. For example, I am not gifted in teaching at all! Last fall I was given an opportunity to speak to 50 women. My heart skipped a beat but it was because I was terrified!! However, I relied on the Holy Spirit and it went great! I would definitely do it again, if God asked me, but I’m not seeking out the opportunity 🙂 The other one, that I was guilty of for several years, “I’m not gifted in evangelism, so it’s hard for me to interact with non-Christians and share Jesus.” Not good! The great commission is for everyone and we all aren’t going to be Billy Graham but we still need to be doing evangelism! I was SO convicted about that a few years ago. That was what I shared with the 50 women mentioned above 🙂
Second, I think is important to note that sometimes all Christians do is serve other Christians. We can serve and serve and serve in the church, wrapping our whole lives up in it and forget about a lost and dying world that needs Jesus. There are so many ways in which I can serve in my church but I make sure to not over-commit myself so that I can have the time and energy to reach out. Currently, I teach the 2 and 3 year old Sunday School class. Oh my, how cute they are and I love teaching them about Jesus but that is all I do at church. The rest of my work for God is outreach and evangelism.
I think Satan LOVES when we completely bury ourselves in our churches. I realize that some people are called to serve the church body like Pastors, etc. but that still doesn’t excuse them from doing outreach. I love our pastor and his wife. They are great at shepherding the flock but also practice evangelism and outreach in their own lives. They serve as great examples.
I long for a lost world to know HIM and I pray that as we serve each other and outreach, we can be a light to those lost souls around us!