Spiritual Gifts

Are you aware that you have spiritual gifts? Are you aware that you were specifically and uniquely created by God to use your spiritual gifts for His good? A couple of months ago, my church worked through a series called “Designed to Make a Difference.” The first week my pastor spoke about how we were created by God, the next week he spoke about how we were individually equipped with the tools to make a difference for God’s Kingdom, the next week was about spiritual gifts. This particular part of the series is what really caught my attention. 

I have mentioned before that I was raised in a Christian home. Due to this, I have always been told that everyone was intentionally created by God and given the tools and calling to use and pursue in their lives. Whether or not they choose to use their unique tools and calling is a story for another time. However, when it came to learning about spiritual gifts, I was made aware of them, but I honestly didn’t put a whole lot of thought into them for myself personally. I was impressed by the fact that we are all given our own personal spiritual gifts, but I didn’t take it much further. 

When we had the sermon about spiritual gifts, my interests were peeked in a new way. I literally had the excitement of a child to learn of what my specific spiritual gifts were. They provided us with a link to a website that allows you to take a quiz to learn about what our spiritual gifts may be. I took the quiz and received the results of: 1) Exhortation 2) Helps 3) Administration 4) Teaching 5)Hospitality. I decided to take it again, about a week or so later and my results came back a bit different – 1) Mercy 2) Administration 3) Craftsmanship 4) Exhortation 5) Helps. 

After studying my results, I realized I had some overlap with my results. Exhortation, Administration and Helps were the three constants. Seeing this pattern was an affirmation for me personally that I have been divinely gifted with these gifts to utilize in this crazy journey called life. The definitions of the gifts I received in my results are as follows: 

Administration: The gift of administration is the divine strength or ability to organize multiple tasks and groups of people to accomplish these tasks. 

My response: I have always felt lead to take on a leadership role in many aspects of my life, however, my fear of stepping up has hindered me fully accepting this gift. I am recognizing more and more as of late that I just need to get over my fear. I read recently that fear is not just being afraid of the task, but an admission that you are not fully trusting God with that task. When I read that, I felt it in my heart, as well as, in my gut. It was a revelation that I am not fully trusting God, the one and only God who is all knowing and all powerful. 

Craftsmanship: The gift of craftsmanship is the divine strength or ability to plan, build, and work with your hands in the construction environments to accomplish multiple ministry applications. 

My response: This one made me laugh a bit because I am an interior designer, I have close family members and friends who are contractors and I love me a good D-I-Y project. I have always wondered how I personally could apply my vocation to serve the Lord, but in hearing this, it confirmed for me that what I do can and will be used to glorify the Lord – in my vocation and beyond.

Exhortation: The gift of exhortation is the divine strength or ability to strengthen, comfort, or urge others to action through the written or spoken word and Biblical truth. 

My response: This gift caught me off guard a bit. I have always been true to my faith. I genuinely believe that if you were to ask someone who knows me if I were a Christian, they would be able to answer yes because of the way that I live my life. I have always made it a goal to live by example (Don’t mistake me, I am not saying I have lived my life perfectly as that is impossible). However, I haven’t really considered myself as someone who urges others to action through written or spoken word and Biblical truth on a regular basis. Although, I guess I am currently doing that with this blog post. 🙂 

Helps: The gift of helps is the divine strength or ability to work in a supportive role for the accomplishment of tasks in Christian ministry with the ability to often see the need before others do. 

My response: When I read this one, I was like Yup! I genuinely love helping and encouraging people. I went to private school growing up and one of our requirements for graduating was serving in our community by volunteering our time. I think volunteering so much growing up really nurtured my love of helping others. I am very willing to help, especially when it is behind the scenes. I’ve never felt the need to be in the spotlight. Although, that feeling is beginning to change now that I know that Administration/Leadership is one of my spiritual gifts. 

Hospitality: The gift of hospitality is the divine strength or ability to create warm, welcoming environment for others in places such as your home, office or church. 

My response: Yes, I was just telling my friends the other day that I love to host and create warm and inviting environments for my peers, loved ones, and even strangers because I know what it feels like to be loved and wanted and I want others to be able to experience that for themselves as well. My hope is that people see me as accepting and a safe space for them to entrust me with their sorrows, joys, etc. 

Mercy: The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way. 

My response: This one is very true. When people are hurting and suffering, I may not be experiencing the exact same pain, but I can genuinely sympathize with them. I can physically feel what they are feeling and it is so heart-wrenching. I pray for those of you who are suffering currently.

Teaching: The gift of teaching is the divine strength or ability to study and learn from the Scriptures primarily to bring understanding and depth to other Christians. 

My response: I have always loved to teach. I have said in the past that I would eventually like to go back to school so that I could get a job teaching at a university in some capacity. I am currently teaching Sunday school and it has been so rewarding feeding the minds of younger generations. I, in fact, have even learned many things from my students. I am thankful for any chance that I am given to speak about how amazing our God is. 

Now that I have gone through the process of taking the quiz and thoroughly going over all of my spiritual gifts, I encourage and challenge you to do the same. It is definitely eye-opening and inspiring. We were all created for a specific purpose. No one else in the universe and beyond was created just like you and me. We are given permission to fully utilize the tools, pursue the calling, and accept and practice the spiritual gifts that God has given us and placed on our hearts. If you are struggling at all with what your purpose is in life, I encourage you to take a few minutes to take this spiritual gifts quiz. 

I can’t say that this simple little quiz is going to give you all of the answers. In fact, it may even cause you confusions once you get your results. Nonetheless, it will give you something to work from. You will be able to see what strengths you have and perhaps start to pursue avenues that involve you putting your spiritual gifts into practice. Know that God loves you so very much and wants you to be so successful in this life. He love you immensely and has a very unique plan for your life. Do not ever think otherwise. 

https://giftstest.com/allgifts

Weekly verse: 

1 Corinthians 12:7 “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”