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Kent Murawski

Reach your potential, make a difference

Purpose ·

Purpose Quest 5: Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts

Just out of curiosity, what do you really know about your unique design and how it informs your overall purpose? 

Part of discovering your purpose (the reasons for which you exist or were created) is learning about your unique make-up. Author Rick Warren refers to it as your S.H.A.P.E.

S – Spiritual Gifts

H – Heart (Passion)

A – Abilities (Natural Strengths)

P – Personality

E – Experiences

[I think there is one other important category so I will add an “S” making it S.H.A.P.E.S.]:

S – Spheres of influence

Going Micro!

For the last several posts, I’ve been sharing my own personal journey of finding purpose through a season where it seemed foggy and unclear. So far, we’ve covered the four MACRO or BIG PICTURE Questions (see all posts at the end). Now it’s time to cover the Micro Questions. There are 10 questions in all. I call it The Purpose Roadmap, and by the end, if you answer them all and do the hard work, you will move from constantly searching to confidently living.

There are 10 questions in all. While MACRO Questions deal with God’s Will and Purpose for every believer at all times, the Micro Questions have to do with your unique design and purposes. In other words,

How do my Spiritual gifts, Heart/passions, Abilities/strengths, Personality, Experiences, and Spheres of influence align to inform my unique purposes? 

Today we begin talking about the first “S” in S.H.A.P.E.S. or your spiritual gifts.

Your Spiritual DNA

Spiritual gifts are different from natural talents, strengths, and abilities. Spiritual gifts are activated when we come into a relationship with God who is Spirit. 

There are three different kinds of spiritual gifts identified in scripture: ministry gifts, manifestation gifts, and motivational gifts.

Ministry gifts are people God gives to the Church in order to equip and mature her. They are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (see Ephesians 4:11-14). 

Manifestation gifts are supernatural gifts that can come upon any believer at any time through the power of the Holy Spirit. They include gifts like faith, healing, miracles, and prophecy (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). 

Then there are the motivational gifts. This is where I will focus. They have also been referred to as “personality” gifts. According to Charles Stanley, “A motivational gift is the underlying driving force that causes you to do the things you do the way you do them.”1 This has to do with your spiritual design. When you are living in and according to your personality gift, it will also bring you great joy and fulfillment. Why? Because you are doing what you were made to do! 

There are seven motivational gifts identified in Romans 12:6-8. According to author and professor Bruce E. Winston, motivational gifts are the God-given ability to: 

  1. Prophesy – speak forth the mind and counsel of God of that which cannot be known by natural means i.e. to discern and proclaim truth.2
  2. Serve – identify unmet needs and meet those needs. 
  3. Teach – instruct, clarify, illuminate, simplify, and illustrate for the sake of communication and understanding. 
  4. Encourage – call forth the best in others through encouragement and motivation in such a way that helps and heals. 
  5. Give – understand the material needs of others and meet them. 
  6. Lead – set goals in accordance with God’s purpose for the future and communicate them to others in a way that brings harmony. 
  7. Show mercy and kindness – feel and act upon genuine empathy for others who suffer distress (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc).3

To further clarify, there are several things that are important to understand when it comes to these gifts (based on 1 Peter 4:10-11):

  • Everyone has received a gift
  • The gift is said to be singular, not plural. (but we probably have a dominant gift and 1-2 secondary gifts)
  • Some are speaking gifts. We would probably include prophecy, teaching, and exhortation. These might be termed more “public” gifts.
  • Some are serving gifts. Here we would include serving, giving, and showing mercy. These might be termed more “private” gifts.
  • All gifts are to glorify God. 
  • All gifts are to be used for others.
  • All gifts are to be done by the power and strength of God.4

(micro) Purpose Question #5 – Spiritual Gifts

What are my spiritual gifts? (read Romans 12 and take the free S.H.A.P.E. Test. Focus on the answers to spiritual gifts right now. You can also take this shorter simpler spiritual gifts test.

Now write a concise statement about your spiritual gifts and add it to your answers from questions 1, 2, 3, and 4.  

How do your spiritual gifts inform your purpose? It’s pretty tough to put your gifts to use when you’re unsure what they are. It’s kind of like trying to find a destination without a map or a GPS.

Digging Deeper

Here are some ways to help you further discover and unlock your spiritual gifts.  

Look in the mirror. There are several ways to do this. First, ask your Creator. Because He made you, that means He has intimate knowledge of your make-up, and He is willing and able to reveal it to you. Prayerfully reading His blueprint, the Bible, is also a part of that. Read over the spiritual gifts. Pray into them. Study them. Ask Him. 

Second, ask other people. Often other people can see you better than you can see yourself. As it’s been said, it’s hard to see the label when you’re inside the jar! 

Third, increase your knowledge. We live in a day when knowledge is increasing exponentially. Between podcasts and books, there are endless opportunities to grow. Here are a few books I recommend on the subject:

Experiment. As it is with any gift, be it spiritual or otherwise, some trial and error is usually a necessary part of the journey. Often, the way you find what you are gifted to do or good happens by trial and error. Sometimes the best way to discover your gifts is by ruling out what they’re not! 

Check Out the Entire Series:

Endnotes

¹ Charles Stanley – https://www.charleslstanley.com/so-what-exactly-is-a-motivational-gift/

² Vine’s Expository Dictionary of the New Testament

³ Winston, Bruce E. The Romans 12 Gifts: Useful for Person-Job Fit, Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership 2, no. 2, 2008 School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University. 

4 Charles Stanley (same as footnote #1)

*Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash