Recently I took an analysis of my spiritual gifts. I found the results so incredibly accurate I thought I'd share it with you guys, my dear friends and spiritual family. I want to encourage you to take it yourself! The results are really intriguing and might help you discover what areas of ministry are right for you!
Here is a link!
www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1
Just remember when your taking it, to answer completely honestly. You are the only one who will see the results, and say for example if theres a question about giving to the poor, and you don't feel that strongly about giving to the poor, remember it's not that your a bad person, it's that your ministry is in a different area! As long as you answer honestly, you'll get precise results on what area of ministry you're suited to. :)
I'd like to share a paper I wrote on my results for one of my classes at Liberty University.
Part
1: What are your top 2 spiritual gifts? Do you agree with the
results? Why or why not? My two top gifts
were “showing mercy” and “exhortation.” I completely agree
with the results. I was surprised to see “showing mercy” as my
number one spiritual gift. It's interesting that I've always been
very empathetic with people, but with all the disappointments in my
past I hardened that part of myself somewhat. I still try to reach
out and help people who are in need. The quality of showing mercy
involves being able to connect and comfort people. It means that I'm
able to sympathize and empathize with people who may have problems
that others would feel uncomfortable with. I find it easy to
empathize with people on complex issues like drug addiction, sexual
immorality, and alcoholism because I've been some of those places in
my past. I know how easy it is to slip into a bad pattern of
behavior, until it consumes everything you are. At the same time, I
struggle with being judgmental. It's ironic because it's the
characteristic I always despised the most in modern Christians.
There are many character defects to be resolved from my past, but I
consistently ask God to make me a more caring and loving person.
After all the chaos I went through in my life, I think I tossed out a
lot of my compassion because it hurt too bad. “Exhortation” as
my second top spiritual gift made just as much sense at “showing
mercy.” I'm the kind of person who has a strong burden of needing
to know how to apply scripture. I can listen to a Pastor babble on
all day about spiritual principles, but I need to know the exact
practical application. I need to know how I can integrate a positive
pattern into my thinking to allow for growth in love, humility,
works, and faith. Having gained so much practical insight from
twelve step programs, I feel like I have a wealth of wisdom on
practical application of moral and spiritual principles. It quite
literally flows out of me, and I want to give it away to everyone I
meet.
Part
2: Specifically, how can you use your gifts at this time? How might
you misuse your gifts? Be specific. There are
many ways I can use my gifts today. Within my church people often
come to me to “unload” whats going on in their life. I can often
be there just to listen. I'm fairly quiet, but for some reason
people will come up and be comfortable sharing their problems with
me. I can also use my gift of showing mercy by asking my Pastor to
send people with drug and alcohol problems to me. I can use the gift
of “showing mercy” to care for them, and let them know they
aren't alone. I can use my gift of exhortation to share with them
the solution that I've found for these issues. My gifts are useful
at Bible studies as well, and I could find some at other churches, as
my church is fairly small. Outside of my church, I make use of my
spiritual gifts by posting helpful and inspirational content on my
Facebook account. I also write a blog called “A Lifestyle of
Peace” and share practical ways of applying scripture to life.
There are so ways my gifts can be misused as well. Being capable of
earning trust quickly, and empathizing with people, I need to be
careful that I'm mainly associating with and caring for males. I
could easily fool myself into thinking I'm helping a female, and it
could become unhealthy very quickly. I often let enthusiasm for
exhortation get in the way of showing mercy, and I'll push a solution
on someone who isn't ready or just needs a kind individual to be
there. I often end up taking a lot of the emotional baggage of
helping others with me after a long day, and that can be detrimental
to my spiritual health.
Part
3: What were your 2 lowest scoring gifts? Do you agree or disagree?
Why or why not? My two lowest scores were
“giving” and “serving.” I completely agree with these
results. I don't really feel my ministry is in the giving of
physical goods or money. It's just not what I'm good at, and it's
not what I'm called to do. God didn't give me a strong burden for
that sort of ministry. Of course I love the idea of giving to the
poor, but there are others will have to fulfill that ministry.
Serving is also something I'm not particularly good at. It really
comes down to that my focus and drive just aren't in these two
particular gifts. There is nothing wrong with that either. Each is
called to a specific ministry, mine relates strongly to “showing
mercy” and “exhortation.”
Part
4: What impact does this knowledge have on your involvement in
ministry? The
information on my two strongest spiritual gifts, as well as my third
strongest gift deeply impact my involvement in future ministry.
First off, I've started to give more serious consideration to church
counseling. After years of poor experiences with secular counseling,
I had written off the entire possibility, but now I may need to
consider it more seriously. I have extremely ambitious goals for
ministry, so it would be humbling for me to work one on one with
individuals. The gift of “showing mercy” gives me an incredible
amount of compassion and identification with people. As I've
practiced sermon writing, I've found a quality of deeply personal,
and encouraging material come through in my writing. I feel that is
a message that is deeply needed in the church today. People have
been yelled at about upholding quality Biblical principles for too
many years, without anyone telling them how to gain that kind of
standard in their life. My second gift of “exhortation” with
also greatly assist me in giving sermons, as I can first empathize
and connect with the audience on deeply personal issues, then
encourage the audience, followed by showing them exactly how to make
practical changes in their daily lives. My third highly placed gift
was “shepherding” which means I might fit well into a long term
congregational setting. I have high ambitions about reaching
individuals across the entire planet, which comes out in my blog
which reaches several different countries. I dream of strings of
churches across the entire planet with practical application and high
emphasis on 12 step Biblical principles in assisting with living a
daily quality Christian life. As long as I remain desperately humble
in this endeavor, and ensure all the money gained is redistributed to
the needy, I can then avoid a “mega church” situation. I believe
there can be a broad, large ministry that is also compassionate,
humble, and generous to those most in need.
