Go where your gifts are; there you will find God.
Apart from many useful and practical reasons for discerning your gifts, the most profound reason is simply that your gifts are the place where God is closest to you in your life. Go where your gifts are and you will be closer to the source of those gifts – God. Can’t find God in your life? Chances are you haven’t found your true gifts either. And.
Since gifts are always given for a purpose, finding your gifts will also put you closer to God’s purpose for your life.
What is the meaning of life? Find your gifts; use them for the purposes to which God has given them to you; and questions of meaning, purpose and identity will resolve themselves as you discern, use and deepen your gifts.
This site provides 4 resources to help you discern your Spirit Given Gifts:
- A Questionnaire;
- Descriptions of 22 Gifts;
- Suggestions for further exploration of your Gifts; and,
- Posts below with additional comments and clarifications.
Questionnaire
Use the Adobe PDF Questionnaire (see below) to print out and hand-score the Questionnaire to begin discerning your gifts.
Note: For those expecting to find an online, self-scoring version of the Questionnaire. That has been temporarily de-activated until some bugs can be corrected.
Gift Descriptions
Check the left-hand side bar for descriptions of each of the 22 Spirit Given Gifts. Each description gives:
- Scriptural References lists a few key Biblical passages related to this Gift.
- Biblical Models names some people who illustrate this Gift.
- People with this gift can ... lists some of the things people with Gift typically are good at.
- Cautions points out difficulties people with this Gift should watch for.
- Personal Traits describes characteristics of people with this Gift.
- Tips for nurturing this gift offers some suggestions for developing this Gift.
- Possible Tasks suggests ministries where this Gift might be used.
- Not to be confused with the responsibility of all Christians to ... points out that Christians without this Gift must still exercise responsibility in this area.
Or use the 31 page Adobe PDF Gift Description booklet (see below) to print out all of the Spirit Given Gift descriptions.
Suggestions
The Questionnaire is only the beginning of exploring your Gifts.
Talking with others who know you well and / or your Minister or Gifts Counselor will help as well. It will help to explore:
- the differences between related Gifts;
- your personal traits and stage of life;
- Gifts that have been unused; etc.
A guide for exploring these questions is included with the Adobe PDF Questionnaire, or can be opened separately by clicking here.