Page 158 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

“work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). All are gifted so that they can contribute to the cause of Christ
out of gratitude for all He has done for them. In doing so, they also find fulfillment in life through their
labor for Christ. It is the job of the church leaders to help build up the saints so they can be further
equipped for the ministry to which God has called them. The intended result of spiritual gifts is that the
church as a whole can grow, being strengthened by the combined supply of each member of Christ's
body.

To summarize the differences between spiritual gifts and talents: 1) A talent is the result of genetics
and/or training, while a spiritual gift is the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. 2) A talent can be
possessed by anyone, Christian or non-Christian, while spiritual gifts are only possessed by Christians. 3)
While both talents and spiritual gifts should be used for God’s glory and to minister to others, spiritual
gifts are focused on these tasks, while talents can be used entirely for non-spiritual purposes.

How do we discover and use our spiritual gift(s)?

We should concentrate on meeting needs, not pin-pointing our gifts. As you
begin to minister in a church or in your community, it will become clearly evident
from the testimony of others what your spiritual gift may be. Also, we should
allow the advice of other mature Christians to guide us into areas of service for
which we are suited and away from areas for which we are not.

Christians are universally told to show mercy (James 2:13; 3:17), evangelize (Acts 1:8), exhort one
another ( Heb. 3:13; 10:25), and give (2 Cor. 8:7) which may be specific spiritual gifts of some
Christians, but all are told to practice these gifts.

We need to realize that our spiritual gifts are not for ourselves but are to benefit others. We must
obediently put our gift(s) to use. No one benefits if we don’t use them (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Pet. 4:10,11).
We must be diligent to become effective in using our gift (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6, 7). We must use our
gifts with proper attitudes (Rom. 12:8; 1 Pet. 4:11) and at appropriate times and places (1 Cor. 14:9-12,
22, 23, 40). Otherwise, they can be worthless or even harmful to God’s purposes.

There is no magic formula or definitive test that can tell us exactly what our spiritual gifts are. The Holy
Spirit distributes the gifts as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:7-
11). A common problem for Christians is the temptation to get so
caught up in our spiritual gift that we seek to serve God only in
the area in which we feel we have been gifted. That is not how the
spiritual gifts work. God calls us to obediently serve Him in all
things. He will equip us with whatever gift or gifts we need to
accomplish the task He has called us to.

The best way to determine your spiritual gift is to give each a try.
Teach a class and see what happens. Ask your pastor if you can preach a sermon. Volunteer for a
service project. Study the list above and try each one as an opportunity for ministry to others. What
will happen is that you will receive confirmation from others that your ministry has been a special
blessing to them. Other people who see us serving the Lord can often identify a spiritual gift in use that

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