Gifts of the spirit
More on the topic, mostly because I didn't want to ramble so much in the comments.
Well, my reflection on spiritual gifting was prompted by a re-evaluation of my own gifts. As with the rest of my life, my spiritual gifts seem to be numerous but none of them are very strong or impressive. I'm a little bit gifted at a lot of stuff, but not extremely gifted at anything.
I have always thought that my gift of teaching was my strongest spiritual gift, and that tied in nicely with my natural gift of teaching in non-spiritual areas (I've been told that I should be a teacher since I was in high school). I also have gifts of wisdom, knowledge, shepherding, and discernment of spirits. However, I am starting to think that I have the gift of prophecy, as well. No, no, that doesn't mean I can foretell the future (unless God chooses to use me so at some point), but rather, I speak Truth to people, even when they don't want to hear it; come to think of it, especially when they don't want to hear it. This does not make for a very popular gift.
It has often happened that I will give advice to people, even being very specific about circumstances and likely consequences, and people will blow me off. It is so annoying! I have been trying to bring attention to a certain problem for a few years, and after these few years of constantly saying, "This situation is bad, and will lead to this, this, and this," the leader of the group has said to me, "We've consistently noticed this problem..." So that is good, but I have to wonder, WHY? Why won't people listen to me the first time? Do I seem ignorant? Do I give off the impression that I don't know what I'm talking about? So much trouble in the world could be saved, if people would just listen to me. It's not even that I want anything from being accepted as right, except to keep people from making mistakes, whether mild or serious. I just want to help people.
So while I will not reject what the LORD gives, I'd sort of prefer to not have the gift of prophecy. Is that wrong of me? It leads to frustration. I'd be perfectly happy to have the gift of mercy or helps or faith or pretty much anything else.
People wondering about their spiritual gifts can take some online assessments, although they probably provide estimates rather than absolute knowledge; I'm sure only the Spirit can confirm to you what your gifts really are. Also, different people have different views on the battery of spiritual gifts. However, there are generally consistent lists, drawn from the Bible. Check into spiritual gift-related resources at your local church, too. Here are a few online tests:
http://www.elca.org/evangelism/assessments/spiritgifts.html
http://buildingchurch.net/g2s-i.htm
http://mintools.com/gifts.htm
Well, my reflection on spiritual gifting was prompted by a re-evaluation of my own gifts. As with the rest of my life, my spiritual gifts seem to be numerous but none of them are very strong or impressive. I'm a little bit gifted at a lot of stuff, but not extremely gifted at anything.
I have always thought that my gift of teaching was my strongest spiritual gift, and that tied in nicely with my natural gift of teaching in non-spiritual areas (I've been told that I should be a teacher since I was in high school). I also have gifts of wisdom, knowledge, shepherding, and discernment of spirits. However, I am starting to think that I have the gift of prophecy, as well. No, no, that doesn't mean I can foretell the future (unless God chooses to use me so at some point), but rather, I speak Truth to people, even when they don't want to hear it; come to think of it, especially when they don't want to hear it. This does not make for a very popular gift.
It has often happened that I will give advice to people, even being very specific about circumstances and likely consequences, and people will blow me off. It is so annoying! I have been trying to bring attention to a certain problem for a few years, and after these few years of constantly saying, "This situation is bad, and will lead to this, this, and this," the leader of the group has said to me, "We've consistently noticed this problem..." So that is good, but I have to wonder, WHY? Why won't people listen to me the first time? Do I seem ignorant? Do I give off the impression that I don't know what I'm talking about? So much trouble in the world could be saved, if people would just listen to me. It's not even that I want anything from being accepted as right, except to keep people from making mistakes, whether mild or serious. I just want to help people.
So while I will not reject what the LORD gives, I'd sort of prefer to not have the gift of prophecy. Is that wrong of me? It leads to frustration. I'd be perfectly happy to have the gift of mercy or helps or faith or pretty much anything else.
People wondering about their spiritual gifts can take some online assessments, although they probably provide estimates rather than absolute knowledge; I'm sure only the Spirit can confirm to you what your gifts really are. Also, different people have different views on the battery of spiritual gifts. However, there are generally consistent lists, drawn from the Bible. Check into spiritual gift-related resources at your local church, too. Here are a few online tests:
http://www.elca.org/evangelism/assessments/spiritgifts.html
http://buildingchurch.net/g2s-i.htm
http://mintools.com/gifts.htm
posted by Kiti at 8:52 PM
4 Comments:
Hmph. I took 2 of those 3 inventories, and I still don't know what spiritual gift(s) I have. My guesses: Administrations, faith, and maybe exhortation?
Teaching/Patoral seem to be my main gifts, with knowledge being close behind. The ELCA test puts exhortation and writing equally high up, but I am not sure about those.
I took two quizzes, and they both confirmed teaching and prophecy/truth-telling, and added administration! The latter two were gifts I never had when I took similar tests in high school, which is why I wondered if God might choose to add, subtract, or otherwise change gifting according to His good purpose.
My highest was Service, followed by a three-way tie for Administration, Mercy, and Discerning of Spirits.
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