5 Steps to Discovering and
Developing Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are not
optional to the Christian life but absolutely necessary.
For many Christians spiritual
gifts seem like an optional accessory to the Christian life. Sure it would be
nice to know what yours are and use them, but it’s
not necessary. They seem like extra credit. But the truth could not be more
different than our perception. In 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 the Apostle Paul
foreshadowed the critical role that spiritual gifts play when he said, “My
message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your
faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s
power.” For the church today, it is common for Christians to
rely on wise and persuasive words to try and convince others about the claims
of Jesus rather than utilizing God’s power. That’s
why so much of our Christian life is not making a tangible impact: it is
powerless.
So what does demonstrating
the Spirit’s power look like on a practical, everyday level? That
is where spiritual gifts come in. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, Paul goes into
the most exhaustive discussion about spiritual gifts we see in the New
Testament. Here’s how he ties spiritual gifts into demonstrating the
Spirit’s power, “Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good”
(1 Corinthians 12:7). Spiritual gifts are our primary method to demonstrate the
Spirit’s power in and through our lives. That makes spiritual
gifts not optional to the Christian life but absolutely necessary. With that,
here are five steps to discovering and developing your spiritual gifts.
Take a Test
praiseShutterstock.com
There are numerous online
tests you can take to get a good idea of what your spiritual gifts might be. An
incredible resource to start with is the Spiritual Gifts Test. This free online
spiritual gifts test will not only help you discover what your spiritual gifts
might be, but they have deeper word studies into each spiritual gift to give
you the biblical background for each gift and they also provide the different
places where the spiritual gift is listed in Scripture. This test acknowledges
the existence of the miraculous gifts but does not test for them. Much like a
personality test, these simple questions help you drill down deeper into how
God has uniquely wired you. Your spiritual gifts have been just out of sight,
right underneath the surface. You cannot develop your spiritual gifts until you
know what yours might be, so start by taking a test!
Ask Other Christians
While your spiritual gifts
might seem like a mystery to you, they may be clearly obvious to those around
you. Two spiritual gifts given to Christians are wisdom and discernment, and
Christians with either of these two gifts would be a valuable resource for you
because they might have insight into your spiritual gifting that you might not
even see. For instance, you might think that your tendency to show mercy to
others is just natural and that everyone should have it. Those close to you
might recognize that it’s not natural but a
spiritual gift. On the other hand, you might aspire to the spiritual gift of
leadership but those close to you could disabuse you of that notion if they
have never seen a leadership trait in you. Whether it’s
your parents, close friends or members of a small group that you’re
a part of, ask those around you!
Put Your Gifts Into Practice
It is not enough to discover
what your spiritual gifts are. You need to put them into practice. That is the
only way to develop them. If you think you have the gift of administration,
start organizing something. If you have the gift of evangelism work with your
church’s outreach ministry. As you practice something you’ll
begin to develop it. That’s one of the primary
roles of church leadership (pastors), not to do the ministry, but to equip
Christians to do the ministry through their spiritual gifts (Ephesians
4:11-13). So, if you’ve got the gift of teaching, that’s
easy to implement. You become a small group leader or teach in the children’s
ministry. But what if you have the gift of prophecy? Or the gift of
encouragement? What are specific ways you can serve utilizing those gifts? Ask
your church leadership to help you serve in ways that utilize your spiritual
gifts.
Fellowship With Others Who
Have Your Gifiting.
One of the best ways to
develop your gifts is to be intentional to place around your life other people
who have your gifts. If you’re a teacher or a
church leader, be intentional to spend time listening to other good Bible
teachers. Gather fellow communicators around and talk about the art of
preaching. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). If you have the gift of
prophecy, learn from those who have utilized that gift in the church. If your
church has taken your membership through a comprehensive spiritual gifts
assessment you can find others in your church that have the same gifts as you.
Get to know them. Be intentional to learn from them and allow what God has
taught them about their gifts to instruct you in how to develop yours. Like
most skills, spiritual gifts can be developed and improved, so be sure to
develop yours!
Leverage Your Spiritual Gifts
to Tell Others About Jesus
This is a reminder of what
our overall mission is: “Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19). Our
spiritual gifts are given for a very specific purpose. Spiritual gifts are not
given for our pleasure or our amusement. They are not given so that the church
can be entertained when they gather together. They are a means to an end. They
are given to reach people for Jesus. So in the back of your mind, always be
thinking, “how can my spiritual gifts be utilized to help people
find Jesus?” Whether that’s an upfront gift
like teaching or prophecy or a behind-the-scenes gift like wisdom or mercy, the
ultimate goal is the same: make disciples. When you begin to lean into your
spiritual gifts, do not be surprised when those spiritual gifts lead you
towards ministering to other people. That is the reason we are given spiritual
gifts in the first place.
ADVERTISING
When you discover and begin
to develop the spiritual gifts God has given you, you will begin to experience
the Christian life on a whole new level. You will begin to see God’s
power flow in you through His Holy Spirit, and you will begin to see lives
around you begin to be tangibly changed. There is a divine power out there for
every Christian to utilize, and it comes through our spiritual gifts, so do the
hard work of discovering and developing your spiritual gifts. You will not
regret it!
0 Comments