You’ve probably heard people talking about their spiritual gift. Every Christian is given a spiritual gift when they accept Christ, but what are spiritual gifts? And what is my spiritual gift?
1 Corinthians 12 “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed” verse 4 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of services, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
Let’s start with what spiritual gifts are not. Spiritual gifts are not personality traits, natural talent, or fruits of the spirit. Spiritual gifts are God- given, special ability that are given by the Holy Spirit. Every believer has a spiritual gift, even if you don’t know what it is yet. Your spiritual gift isn’t for you; it is meant to serve the church.
But how do you discover what your spiritual gift is? First, ask God to reveal your spiritual gifts. Then, ask yourself where you serve others best. You can also ask friends and family for their input. There are also many quizzes online that you can take to help you discover your spiritual gift, but don’t view your answer from an online quiz to be the ultimate authority. It’s important to note that your spiritual gift will not change over your lifetime. If you think it’s changed, then you were just confused about what you thought your spiritual gift was.
Finally, I have a few warnings for you about spiritual gifts. First, do not compare your gifts to others. 1 Corinthians 12: 16-19 says “And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.’ it would not for that reason stop being a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.” This verse highlights the fact that we are all necessary for a working body of Christ. Don’t think too highly of yourself, or too low of yourself.
Next is the idea that if you don’t do your part, someone else will. God gave you this gift for a reason, because you can fulfill it in a way that’s specific to you. Also, don’t reject your gift because of what you think it implies. If your gift is shepherding/pastoring, that doesn’t mean you have to become a pastor. You can fulfill your role using that gift in other ways. Just let God lead you to where He wants you to be.
Lastly, keep in mind that your primary ministry should be where your gifted in, but your secondary ministry should be wherever there is a need. Don’t limit yourself to just serving within your gift. Our primary goal should always be to serve God and others to the best of our ability.