Spiritual Gifts Assessment

I went to www.highpointechurchofchrist.org and took the spiritual gifts assessment, and I was surprised by some of my gifts and unsurprised by some. We heard such a great sermon on Sunday about spiritual gifts; and I read James Nored's blog entry about others struggling to know what their gifts are and how to use them. So I decided to figure out what my strengths were and how I can use them.

I felt during the question and answer part that I was answering negatively to so much. There are so many questions about sharing your faith and ministering to others, and while I have a firm belief in God, I have such a hard time sharing my faith with unbelievers. I can talk about it all day long with my fellow Christians, but I am really shy about sharing with others. Well, now I know why! It isn't one of my strengths. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be a focus, but it's understandable why it's hard for me.

Most of my strenghts are pretty obvious to me. Administration (Tasks) is my #1. Duh...who wouldn't have known that? I love to organize and make sure everyone is on task to get the job at hand completed. I am like that at home, at work, at church. I carry my planner everywhere I go to make sure that I am not missing anything. What a great way to be able to help at church! It reminds me of organizing class materials for each individual class and theme for last year's VBS. No wonder I enjoyed it.

Helping was #2. I am truly my parents' daughter. My mother is a social worker and my dad is always including "less fortunate" people in our Thanksgiving celebration. I am often a volunteer for doing things that directly benefit others. I love helping those who are less fortunate (a characteristic of my mother) and including those who might otherwise have nowhere to go (a definite characteristic of my dad).

Prayer was #3. I struggle with my prayer life. I believe in the power of prayer. I pray daily for others, my family, my friends, my life, knowledge and wisdom to do what is right, and so on and so forth. I also am trying to gain more maturity in my prayer life. I don't like rote prayer, but it seems as though my prayers are often repetitive and redundant from day to day. I yearn to be able to pray mature prayers and also to pray in confidence in a group (that one is a REAL struggle). How intimate is your prayer life when it consists of your deepest and darkest thoughts; how difficult to share that vulnerability with others????? Definitely something I need to work on. But be sure that I am always praying for those that have requested it and that I see need it. I do believe that even an immature prayer can move mountains.

#4 for me was Mercy. Ohhhh, where to begin. Mike always promises me that one day I can get my non-profit job that won't pay the bills. I so look forward to making that move and helping the less fortunate in a way that I can't now. Again, probably something that I got from my mother, but I ache for those who ache, hurt for those that hurt, cry with those who cry, and make jokes so that all of the above can laugh. I am quite self-deprecating in such instances, and sometimes self-deprecation is quite humerous.

Last but not least was Service. I often end up doing things that others don't like doing. Not because I like them, but because they need to be done.

Now that I know what my gifts are, I can feel good about the way I use them. I mentioned at small group last night that sometimes people just assume that I will like teaching a class at church. I know that most women enjoy (or are at least good at) teaching children. I am not particularly good at it, and I really don't enjoy it. I love helping in class (note gift #2), but I am not much of a teacher. Now I know why and I don't have to be embarrassed that I don't like doing it. I think that gives me more direction in choosing an area in which I will be enthusiastic about serving.

Not that this gives me an excuse to not attempt to grow in the other areas. Evangelism, ministry, teaching, shepherding...these are all at the bottom of my spiritual gifts chart. These are pretty important aspects of my faith. I need to be able to share my faith with those who don't believe. I need to feel confident enough in my knowledge to share it with others. I need to not be afraid that I am cramming my beliefs in another's face. I can only imagine how my faith will grow when I am able to share it with others and see them grow! While working to put my strengths to work in my life, I hope that I can further my spiritual walk by sharing it with others.