How do you discover your spiritual gifts?

For many years, I didn’t give spiritual gifts much thought. Of course, I didn’t reject the idea of the Holy Spirit equipping and empowering believers in particular ways. I just tended to approach the subject more abstractly.

As a new Christian, I was overwhelmed by personality test-style assessments. (I still am, to be honest.) Actually, that’s not entirely true. I saw that the tests were pretty easy to manipulate into giving a desired answer.¹ And people put way too much stock in these assessments, often defining themselves by the results. So I just didn’t bother with them. Instead, I focused on doing what made the most sense or felt compelled to do in a given situation.

(Which isn’t an entirely unhealthy approach.)

Then spiritual gifts came up in a course I recently took as part of my seminary program. This caused me to start thinking about these gifts more carefully. Specifically, what spiritual gifts are and how to identify them. And I’m glad I did.

What are spiritual gifts?

So how do we define what spiritual gifts are?

First, spiritual gifts are manifestations or expressions of God’s grace. They are not our natural skills or abilities, although even these are good gifts from God (James 1:17). Every gift, no matter how visible or seemingly secret, is supernaturally given and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be used for God’s glory.

Second, there does not appear to be an exhaustive list of spiritual gifts in the Bible. We have multiple lists found in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30, Ephesians 4:11, and 1 Peter 4:11. These lists include:

What we can take away from the inclusion of multiple lists is that these are representative of the ways in which the Spirit empowers us, but may not be exhaustive. The Holy Spirit can and will do whatever he wishes as he goes where he wills (John 3:8). He equips us for the tasks that are at hand, allowing us to serve in the way that best serves the whole church. Which brings me to the third point.

Third, spiritual gifts are given for the mutual encouragement and growth of all believers. Whatever gifts we have do not exist solely for our benefit. They are for the community—to build us all up in the faith (Romans 1:11-12). And that purpose stays the same, whether those gifts are highly visible or more behind the scenes. When we express our gifts, we are both encouraged.

How do you discover your gifts?

This thinking should change how we discern our spiritual gifts. If they are expressions of God’s grace meant to mutually encourage one another, then discovering our gifts happens in the context of community. The church helps us discover how the Spirit is equipping us to love, edify, and encourage one another. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a personal experience to consider. We are part of the “one another,” after all. Our gifts should build us up as well.

It’s not an either-or; it’s a both-and. And this takes us back to the question: How do we know what our gifts are? The best way to answer this? By asking two more questions:³

1. What is it that I do within my church that encourages me and builds up my love for Christ?
2. What is it that I do within my church that builds up those around me and helps them love Jesus more?

How did these questions help me understand my gifts?

How did I answer these questions? Well, reflecting on them allowed me to see my own spiritual gifts more clearly, especially as they relate to writing and teaching.

For me, it’s the entire process, from beginning to end, that encourages me in my faith. (It also physically exhausts me because it’s hard work.) There’s something unique about the time I spend in Scripture whenever I’m preparing a message for Sunday or diving into a subject for a book or article. While the Word is always living and active (Hebrews 4:12), it’s as though it comes alive in a special way during those times.

Preparation is an act of worship. And the same is true when I am actually preaching. Speaking in front of a group of people of any size does not come naturally to me. Presentations are a struggle. But something happens when I’m preaching on a Sunday; I am trusting the Lord to work in and through me for the benefit of my church—his church.

And it seems to be bearing fruit, encouraging the people of my church as they worship. One friend told me that over the last several years, he’s seen a shift in my preaching. I was always good at delivering the meat of the text, he said. But the change that he felt was a sense of being shepherded. Others have said the same—they feel cared for. Loved. And encouraged to love and follow Jesus to a greater degree.

Where to discern and embrace your spiritual gifts

Understanding your spiritual gifts is both easier and more challenging than you might think. Discovering your gifts doesn’t come through a personality test. You don’t need an inventory or assessment.

Discovering our gifts requires a community—a church—where you are loved and safe to be vulnerable, where the gospel is at the center of its culture in the truest sense, where we have the ability to fail, where people will tell us the truth, and where people will nurture what they see God doing in us. To embrace our gifts, we need the church as well. Our gifts do not exist for our own benefit. They are meant to mutually encourage one another, to point one another to the love and goodness of God.

And more than gaining insight into how the Spirit has gifted you, that’s what I pray you’ll take away from the reflection questions above. That you have a community where you are able to express your gifts in all the ways you’re meant to. We cannot truly express our gifts alone. We need one another.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

1. Pattern recognition skills are a blessing and a curse, y’all. ↩︎
2. This particular gift is complex. It seems to be best understood not as an extension of the office of “Apostle,” but as a drive or burden to plant churches, especially where Christ is not known. ↩︎
3. Adapted from Justin Irving, “LD102 The Ministry Leader and the Inner Life.” ↩︎