Do's & Don'ts of Exploring Spiritual Gifts
Updated: Oct 19, 2021
Recently I took a spiritual gifts assessment. If you're wondering what that is, don't worry. I got you. It's essentially a test to discover your spiritual gifts based on Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 and Ephesians 4.
After taking it and discovering my very accurate results, I was a little disappointed. Now let's be real, I knew I didn't have the gift of prophecy or healing or anything like that. Yet, for a brief moment I wanted to be surprised by the results. I wanted to "discover" something new about myself. So much so, that I took a completely different spiritual gifts assessment 5 minutes later. Those results yielded very similar results.
In that 30 minute time period, I made the mistake of devaluing my gifts so I want to share with you some do's and don'ts of exploring spiritual gifts.
Do: Learn and try to figure out your spiritual gifts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an assessment, but pray first. Ask God to reveal to you what your gifts are. Also consider what areas you enjoy most in ministry. You may already know or have an idea of your spiritual gifts.
Don't: Look down on your gifts as if they're not important. All spiritual gifts are important.
They are all vital to the kingdom. One is not better than the other. Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 12 when discussing the unity and diversity of gifts. He uses a body as an illustration for the body of Christ and explains that all parts are necessary.
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:18-19; 27
Do: Recognize you have a spiritual gift.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:7
Don't: Take an assessment as the final authority on your spiritual gifts. Most of these tests are a good indicator of your gifts but are predicated on you being truthful. You can't take these assessments answering questions based on where you'd like to be or who you'd like to be. Moreover, these tests often inventory your past experiences- which means it's not an indicator of where the Holy Spirit may lead you later.
Do: Remember spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit- not you. They are abilities or skills given at salvation for the purpose of ministry to the body of 'Christ.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, 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.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
Don't: Be arrogant thinking your spiritual gift is better than someone else's. This was happening in the Corinthian church and dividing it. Some people thought they were more "spiritual" than others because of their gift. That's not how spiritual gifts work. Don't be out in these streets discounting other people's gifts because they're not as visible as yours.
On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
1 Corinthians 12:22-26
So now that we have a few of the do's and don'ts out of the way, I would love to know what your top 3 spiritual gifts are!
Here Were Mine (in order)
From my first one: Mercy, Administration, Teaching
From my second one: Teaching, Giving, Service
From my third one (yes, I did a 3rd test smh): Giving, Administration, Teaching
Not My Gift, Not My Ministry (Absolute Lowest Scores in the History of Low Scores) Prophecy, Exhortation, Interpreting Tongues, Discerning Spirits, Evangelism
Let me know your spiritual gifts so we can uplift each other!