How To Simply Identify Your Spiritual Gifts

If you want to effectively advance God's kingdom in your sphere of influence, you need to know and use your spiritual gifts.

As ridiculous as this is, many people don't know their spiritual gifts because they have over-spiritualized what should be a simple process.  It's just not that complicated.  I'm with Jeff Larsen.

"Gifts most often are the self evident abilities, talents, and passions that define who they are."  

So, here are three simple steps to enable you to identify your spiritual gifts.

1.  Take your best guess

Seriously.  Prayerfully think about yourself and what you love to do, how you most love to serve people.  This, most likely, indicates your top spiritual gift.   

But, if you need a little bit of help, download a S.H.A.P.E. inventory.  What I love about this inventory is that it is simple, straightforward, short, and has scripture to go with each question.   

2.  Test drive

Now that you've begun to get a sense of your spiritual gifts, it's time to start test driving.  The first place to look for an opportunity is in your church.  Did you identify that you have a teaching gift?  See if you can apprentice as a Sunday school teacher for three months.  Did you identify that you have the gift of hospitality?  Look at the church calendar and see if there's an event that you can help host.  Perhaps you have the gift of administration.  Call the church office and find out if there is a project you can help organize. 

First look to your church to see if there are ministries in which you can serve for a short period of time to test drive what you have identified as your spiritual gifts.  If your church doesn't have a place for your to test drive your spiritual gifts, look to your community. 

3.  As you serve, ask yourself three questions:

Are other people being blessed?    If you are using your spiritual gifts to serve, others will be built up and encourage.  1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10, Ephesians 4:11-12  

Is God being honored?   When you serve in God's strength, people may be thankful for what you are doing, but God gets glorified. 1 Peter 4:10-11 

Am I having fun?   Serving the Lord with gladness doesn't just make serving God fun.  It's a command.  Psalm 100:2, Deuteronomy 28:47-48 

Identifying your spiritual gifts is key to effectively serving God, but it is not a mystical process.  Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Questions:  Does identifying your spiritual gifts seem like a mystical process?  Why or why not?   Why do you think people struggle with finding their spiritual gifts?  What has helped you to identify and use your spiritual gifts?    

Join me tomorrow for "Four Spiritual Traps and How to Avoid Them"

This post is part of a Virtual Book Club in which we read and discuss the book S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose in Life, by Eric Rees. In addition to my own study and experience, much of the material and many of the insights originate in this book.  I invite you to join me and my friends over the next few months as we work together to find and fulfill our unique purpose for life.  It proves to be an exciting journey!