Discover
the gifts within you, stir them up, and fan them into flame. Do not neglect
your gift.
May’s Awakening, Day 15
Do
not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all;
hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. 1
Thessalonians 5:19–22 NIV
Effective ministry is ministry
driven and directed by the Holy Spirit. For you to be effective in ministry and
be effective for God, you must know what your spiritual gifts are and let them
operate freely and develop fully. As you mature spiritually, so too, will your
spiritual gifting. In the process of discovering your spiritual gifts, here are
some important points to remember:
1. Your spiritual gift will always
enable and empower you to do more and be more effective than anything you could
ever do in the natural alone. This is the first hallmark of a spiritual gift.
2. Operating within your spiritual
gift will always bring you personally great joy. The Holy Spirit only gives the
perfect gifts. This is the second hallmark of a spiritual gift.
3. Operating within your spiritual
gift will always be beneficial and a blessing to those who receive your words
or actions, such that oftentimes they will thank you and tell you so. If this
happens on multiple occasions, this is the third hallmark and confirmation of
your gift.
As you once again read through the
definitions of the gifts with prayer and meditation, if you can answer yes to
all three of the above hallmarks of a spiritual gift for any particular gift,
then that most likely is one of your spiritual gifts, and the Holy Spirit
should also be confirming that in your heart.
A great way to begin, or maybe to
solidify what you believe in your heart, is to undertake one or more spiritual
gift assessments that are 100–140 questions about what your past experience
has been in these spiritual gift areas. These assessments are all slightly
different, but if answered in full honesty, will certainly point out the top
three or four most likely dominant and secondary gifts that you possess.
Although not perfect, they are a great place to start, and even better, to
reassess every few years to see how things may be maturing. They give great
definitions for the gifts and usually four or five Scripture references for
each gift also. Remember that many of the gifts operate as teams or are
complementary, such that certain gifts are often seen together, and you should
be looking for that in yourself too. As examples, the following pairs are often
seen together—pastor and exhortation, giving and service, hospitality and
helps, leadership and faith, healing and faith, teaching and knowledge, mercy
and helps or service, tongues and interpretation, prophecy and discernment, and
others.
It’s time—stir up and fan into flame
the gift of God that is within you!
Here are
the spiritual gift assessment resources that I’ve found to be most helpful:
Finding Your Spiritual Gifts
Questionnaire: The Easy to Use, Self-Guided Questionnaire, by C. Peter
Wagner, 2012. Found at Amazon.com for
about $5.
Spiritual Gifts—A Tool to Discover
Your Place in Ministry, by Dr. Dan Reiland, 1998. Found at www.injoy.com (This is
John Maxwell’s website. Click on the “Shop” tab, type in “spiritual gift test”
in the search box; about $5.)
Author Web Page Link
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