4 Steps To Get Clear About Your GIFT
How can I find out how God’s gifted me?
Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG) tells us to:
“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”
Your gift is how you are beautifully created. It’s a mixture of your:
God-Given Gifts: Your spiritual gifts
Impactful Events: These are the events that are shaped how you see the world
Fixations: those people and causes that you can’t shake, burdens your heart
Talents: Essentially, how you are wired, what you do best.
The purpose of walking you through your G.I.F.T. is insight in partnership with God. It’s to see the connections of what may seem like unrelated parts of who you are come together to show you a path to your calling.
G-God-Given Spiritual Gifts
1 Cor 12:7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other
What’s a spiritual gift?
Spiritual gifts are given to you by God when you become a believer to carry out your purpose. When used, these gifts can create a kingdom impact through transformation. Several verses in the bible, including 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and Romans 12, go over spiritual gifts.
List of Spiritual Gifts
UnfoldingFaith.org offers the following list and simple explanations of the following spiritual gifts.
Administration
Being an apostle
Discernment
Evangelism
Exhortation
Faith
Giving
Healing
Helps
Hospitality
Knowledge
Leadership
Mercy
Prophecy
Serving
Speaking in tongues
Teaching (sometimes known as shepherding)
Wisdom
These gifts all work together to serve the body of Christ. Each one of these gifts has value and a purpose, just like you. We need you and your gifts. If you’re not sure of your gifts, ask others and take a spiritual gifts test.
I-IMPACTFUL LIFE EVENTS
Romans 8:28 (TPT) So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.
Wisdom from evaluated experiences
Your past experiences influence how you use your shape to live your calling. Failures, as well as your successes and experiences, can give you clues as to your calling. Many times your perceived “mess” becomes your “message.” But as John Maxwell said, “Experience teaches you nothing, but evaluated experience teaches you everything.” Maturity comes from what you learn and who you become as a result of your experience.
Evaluate your life experiences in 4 different areas:
Spiritual Experiences
Write down your spiritual journey. Did you grow up in a close Christian family, or are you, like me, an atheist for years and came to Christ in her late 20s?
When and in what seasons was God’s presence the clearest in your life?
How have you felt led to share your faith with others?
Relational
Did you grow up in a close-knit extended family, nuclear family, dysfunctional family, or single parent in foster care?
How have your professional and personal relationships been?
Painful Experience
Rick Warren says, “God never wastes a hurt.” Through your painful experiences, you can speak to those with similar pain in a way no one else can. This means you can also help them heal in ways others cannot.
This begins with surrendering your experience to God in prayer and asking how he can use them for his glory.
F-FIXATIONS
What does “fixation” mean?
These are those things- people and causes that you’re fixated on. It’s a deep burden on your heart. That burden for a people and cause you can’t shake. No two people share the same combination of:
Passions
Brokenheartedness over the same world problems
Offenses
Interests
How all of these things come together is beautifully unique to you and becomes your one-of-a-kind, “emotional heartbeat” you use to engage in the world. Being clear on what burdens your heart can help you get clear about your gift. This burden, fixation, fuels you to live out your God-given dream and push past barriers.
Example of “fixation”
My inspiration for becoming a foster mom to teens came from a movie called Trafficked. I cried throughout the entire film and felt burdened by the fact that many girls trafficked came from foster care. I could not get the movie of the thought of teenage girls being sexually trafficked. We signed up for foster care training within a week of seeing the film. Three years later, we’ve fostered several teens, three as of this writing, who live with us.
To find your “fixation,” take inventory of your top three:
Values
Passions
Offenses (no matter how silly you think they are)
The three things people consistently say about you
Once you take inventory, pray over the list, asking God to give you spiritual insight.
T-Talents
Romans 12:6(NLT) – God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well in his grace.
What are talents?
God gave your natural talents, things you do well, to serve others. The problem is that these things are so natural to us that we think that they are not unique. Worse, we get so focused on what we are not good at; that we struggle to acknowledge what we are good at doing. Your talents align with you calling, the dream God’s placed on your heart.
Spiritual Gifts vs. Natural Talent
Sometimes people ask me about the difference between abilities and spiritual gifts. Natural abilities help someone achieve a goal, whereas spiritual gifts help someone’s soul transform.
Ways to take inventory of your talents so you can get clear about your gift
Do tests to discover your strengths, like Clifton’s Strengths.
Ask people who’ve worked with you (either professionally or as a volunteer) about your abilities.
Write down what you think you’re good at, NOT what you think you’re terrible at doing.
Get to know your personality and how you are wired to use your talent.
I encourage you to take different personality tests. A good friend of mine says, “One personality test can feel like a label; multiple personality tests can help you understand your identity.”
Below is a list of some popular tests for insight:
Vocation-paid, volunteer, and education
Think of your top three favorite jobs or roles. What are the top three things you enjoyed about each position and role? Do you see patterns? If you are or were a SAHM, the same applies. In what “mom” roles did you find most satisfying?
If you’re not working, what three volunteer experiences have you enjoyed and why? What are the top three skills you enjoy using in your volunteer roles, and why?
As a student, what subjects do you enjoy and why?
RECAP ON HOW TO GET CLEAR ABOUT YOUR GIFT
Getting clear about your gift begins with prayer. In prayer, surrender everything, your ambitions, and your dreams to God. Be open to hearing the insight you get. Then use the G.I.F.T model for insight into how you are uniquely created.
G-God-Given Spiritual Gifts
I-Impactful Life Events
F- Fixations
T- Talents
NEXT STEPS TO GET CLEAR ABOUT YOUR GIFT
Colossians 3:23 (NIV) – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
Once you’ve walked through your G.I.F.T., take a break, set it aside, give it a few days and go back. Give yourself time to mentally rest and give God’s wisdom time to deepen your insight. When you go back, see if there are changes or additional insights.
God can’t steer a parked car. If you aren’t fully using your gift, DO SOMETHING. It may be looking up information, inquiring about a volunteer opportunity, or even continuously praying. God often shows up in action.
You won’t always know the next step, but you’ll usually get a prompt to move in a direction. Even if it initially doesn’t make sense, move. Movement creates momentum, which activates calling. The world needs what you have to offer. You have problems to solve and people to help in a way that only you can do. So get started!!
