All of us have unused skills, gifts and abilities. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out what yours are, or you’ve had to set them aside for a while so that you can concentrate on other things that you feel were more important up until now.
Possibly you’ve ignored them because of life’s circumstances and made a number of sacrifices throughout your life up until this point in time.
But now you have a desire to start using them, or you’ve even got a sense that something is driving you to change your focus and start fulfilling what it is that those latent skills, gifts and abilities were there for. You see, God has given them to you for a reason – He wants us each to use them to serve Him and others!
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life says that when we use our skills, gifts and abilities God smiles, “God intentionally gifted us differently for His enjoyment. He made some to be athletic and some to be analytical. You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All these abilities can bring a smile to God’s face.”
Psalm 33:15 says “He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do.” (The Message)
Below are three ways that Rick Warren* has shared to help us each start cultivating our gifts and abilities so that we can use them for good and for God’s glory.
1. Estimate your gifts and abilities.
Do an assessment of your life, an audit of your gifts and abilities. Make a list. What are you good at? Know your weaknesses. Consider the capabilities God has given you.
2. Dedicate your gifts and abilities.
Commit them to God for the use He intended. Romans 12:1 says, “Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him” (Good News Translation).
Pray this prayer, “God, you gave me these gifts and abilities. Now I’m going to give them back to you. I want to use them for the purpose for which you intended.”
3. Cultivate your gifts and abilities.
That means to practice, improve, sharpen, and develop. Any gift and ability that God has given you can be increased with practice.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10:10, “If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success” (New International Version).
How do you gain skill? Practice. God says a dull ax takes more energy; you need to sharpen your ax. In other words, work smarter, not harder. Sharpening your gifts and abilities—your aptitudes and skills—is a spiritual responsibility.
God has invested enormously in you.
First, God created you; and he shaped you with spiritual gifts and abilities, and personality.
He then sent his son Jesus to die for you. God has made a great investment in your life! And he expects a return on the investment.
He’s going to ask you one day, “What did you do with what I gave you? How did you use your gifts and abilities to honor me, serve others, make a living, and be an example? How did you use them to help other people?”
In Luke 12:43, Jesus said, “When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed” (New Century Version).
The thing is, God wants to bless your life!
We each have a roll to play in this thing called life, God has assigned us with specific tasks to do and He has provided us with unique gifts and abilities to complete them.
And when God looks at you, he wants to see you using your gifts and abilities in the way that He intended so that you’ll experience His blessing.
The Ultimate Gift-giver
The thing is, God is the most generous gift-giver you can ever know. Think on that for a few moments.
He has given us so many things in life that when we take the time to acknowledge just a few of them we can be left feeling a little dumbfounded and in awe of all that He has done for us.
Psalm 145:3 says that the Lord is great “and most worthy of [our] praise; His greatness no one can fathom.” (New International Version)
As human beings, we cannot even begin to comprehend the full extent of the glory of God and His greatness. He is our Creator, our King, Saviour and Lord. He is a loving, merciful, powerful, forgiving and awesome God.
God doesn’t just stop there, how about spending some time exploring some of the below gifts that the Bible says He’s given us:
Breath in our lungs (Genesis 2:7).
Family (Psalm 68:6).
Wisdom (James 1:5).
Joy (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
Freedom (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Peace (John 14:27).
Eternal life (John 3:16).
The ultimate gift God offers us is Himself!
The Bible tells us that God gave Himself to us in physical form in the person of Jesus. And when the time came for Jesus to return to His Father in heaven, He gave His presence to His followers to live within them — His Holy Spirit.
Spiritual Gifts
God gives us His Son as our greatest gift and He also equips and empowers us by giving us what we call spiritual gifts, or gifts of the Holy Spirit. When you intentionally develop and use these gifts for God, His own Spirit is working in and through you as you trust in Him.
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10 (New Living Translation)
The Bible describes several spiritual gifts and the ways that Jesus followers should use them. All gifts are significant, and all come from the same Spirit. They are all meant to point people to God, and they are to be used for the good of His people.
Unfortunately, one of the largest issues and challenges facing many Christians and churches is that they don’t know their Spiritual Gifts. According to the Institute for Natural Church Development 80% of Christians that they surveyed had no idea what their spiritual gifts might be 😦
So, if gifts come from God and are given to every Christian, how do you figure out which gifts you have? And how can you learn how to use them?
Natural Character Development has developed a trinitarian approach to identifying and developing our Spiritual Gifts which I can help explore with you 🙂
Identifying your spiritual gifts is one of the most significant discoveries you will make in your life.
Discovering your strongest areas of giftedness and how those gifts shape what you may be called to do in the world is one of the most important steps you can take to help reveal your purpose and calling in this world.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity and privilege to complete some Natural Church Development (NCD) training to become a NCD Coach, which forms a part of the 3 Color Discipleship Series.
So, if you’d like to find out more about the NCD Spiritual Gifts Test and the coaching process drop me a line via email or leave a comment below – I’d be more than willing to let you know about the costs etc. and what is involved 🙂
* Originally posted on Rick Warren’s weekly Monday Encouragement, which is part of the Pastors.com ministry toolbox.
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