Recently I was asked to write on spiritual gifts for CRU, the ministry I worked with for 32 years. They graciously provided stock images. Read on, I pray you benefit.
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The idea of spiritual gifts may sound a little bit mysterious, especially to pre- and new believers. Spiritual gifts – do they come in a box? Do they come with instructions? Do they come “assembly required,” or fully assembled?
Discovering Spiritual Gifts
I was first introduced to spiritual gifts through the small group discipleship process with CRU while I was in university. Taking assessments and surveys has always been fun for me, and that was part of learning about the different gifts and where I might fit in.
We began by looking in the Bible, including a discussion about what the Bible says the gifts are. There is more than one place to look in the Word. We covered prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, and mercy. That is the list in Romans 12:6-8.
I really appreciated the explanation that gifts grow over time. That is to say—there is some “assembly required”, and it takes a while for one’s gifts to grow and mature.
The other piece of wisdom we received before taking the inventory was to pray. Not just at that time, but to put gifts on our prayer list to pray about daily. Then ask God to clarify and grow our giftings as we grow in our faith.
Possibly my favorite counsel was: “Take the assessment and review the results. Then put it away and pray that God will develop all of the gifts in you so that you can be more Christ-like.” As I did that, I found that “Grace, truth, and time” (Changes That Heal, by Henry Cloud) are all important components of this, as well as our walk of faith.
Applying my spiritual gift
My primary gift emerged as “exhortation.” Even though we talked about it a bit beforehand, that is a word that people don’t use very often. Some translations call it encouragement—and it is that—but exhortation is so much more.
There are two sides to exhortation: one is encouragement and the other is correction. Correction is the hardest part of my gifting. But God does tremendous things as I have yielded to the growth process. Also, as exhortation and all the other giftings have matured in my life to varying degrees, some of the other gifts complement correction.
I helped pioneer several ministries overseas and in the USA. Pioneering is always a learning process for everyone. Occasionally I mediated challenging situations. Often that meant bringing understanding to everyone involved to keep or get us back on track.
My favorite experience was outside of formal ministry. I had to let someone go because they were not performing well. By the time our conversation was over, the person was thanking me profusely for the feedback she received, despite just losing that income stream. The Lord helped me combine leadership and mercy with encouragement and correction. This helped me graciously point out where to improve her weaknesses for the next position God had for her.
Identifying your spiritual gifts
Spiritual gifts do not come in a box, but they do “need assembly.” They are opened in us when we accept Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. And I suspect they are already latent in us before we know Christ personally. God knit us together in our mother’s womb after all. He chose us before time to bear fruit that remains. As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are the container of his gifts (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
If you have never taken a spiritual gifts assessment before, Cru.org has a rudimentary one that can get you started.
Let me close with a prayer:
“Abba, thank you for choosing me and giving me gifts that will help build your kingdom and bring you glory. Please help me to grow in all the gifts, but I especially invite you to mature and direct my primary gifts. Thanks in advance for help from the Holy Spirit for the needed “assembly.” Amen
What is the best advice you’ve received to discover or use your spiritual gifts?
