What are the Spiritual Gifts? - Part 2: How Do We Find Our Gifts?

We find our spiritual gifts, in part, by understanding why God gives them. They are given to edify and serve others.

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. 1 Corinthians 12:7

Typically, our spiritual gift will both edify others as well as ourselves. It's a win-win situation. For example, when people use their gifts of teaching to study and present God’s Word, they are edified while they are instructing others. When a person serves others, they feel satisfied while giving help to another person.

An exception to that is the gift of tongues. It seems that this gift can sometimes be helpful to only the person who has the gift.

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. 1 Corinthians 14:3-4

So how do we identify our gifts?

• The fact that we are edified by serving in a specific capacity is one of the indicators that it might be our gift. If a person feels fulfilled while they are also serving another person, it is likely that they are using a spiritual gift.

• God gives His children the spiritual gifts so that we can strengthen, help, and serve one another. Since our gifts help others, the affirmation of others is important in the discerning and understanding our spiritual giftings. Sometimes God will use others to recognize our spiritual gifts.

The spiritual gifts fall into 2 categories - serving and speaking gifts. While serving, people will find out what edifies others. If we teach and everybody falls asleep, then that may not be our gift. Also, while serving, people will discover what edifies them—what they enjoy and don’t enjoy.

Since the spiritual gifts help and serve the body of Christ, it's no wonder that we discover these gifts in the midst of serving. We must get involved and begin serving to discover our own gifting.

As we are faithful with using our gifts, often God will expand our ministry, including giving us more gifts to use for his glory.

Here's some suggestions to develop and live in the reality of our spiritual gifts:

1. Pray for spiritual gifts for ourselves.

But earnestly desire the best gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31

Do you desire to bless your children, or the next generation? Pray for the gift of teaching to better equip them. Do you feel like your church lacks organization? Pray for the gift of leadership and administration to better organize and direct people. Does your heart break for marginalized people in your community, like orphans, single mothers, or widows? Pray for the gift of mercy, so you can better help them and relieve their pain. Does your heart burn for the lost? Pray for the gift of evangelism to better reach them.

God delights to give his children good gifts.

You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. James 4:2

Sadly, sometimes we desire selfish ambitions instead of caring about what God wants. God is generous and wants us to pray and ask for His will.

2. Pray for spiritual gifts for others.

We must desire for others to have spiritual gifts and pray for God to generously give them.

It's natural for Christian parents to ask God to use their children. We can also pray for those in our church and small groups, for other churches in our community and around the world- that God to be gracious to them and empower them for great works. For those who are persecuted, for marriages, for teachers, church leaders, those who serve - all to develop and use spiritual gifts.

3. Continue to grow in our giftings.

The apostle Paul said this to Timothy:

For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

"Stir up” can also be translated to “fan into flame."

Just as we stir up the wood in a fire or fan it to make the flames hotter and stronger, we must continually make our spiritual gifts stronger. We do this by continually using them. As we faithfully use them, they naturally get stronger.

We strengthen them by being trained and coached by mature believers. As they instruct and at times correct us, our gifts become stronger—they are fanned into flame. We should think of spiritual gifts like raw, untapped potential in an athlete. A gifted athlete still must train hard and be coached to become a professional athlete. We must do the same with our spiritual gifts.

4. Be careful not to become prideful or despise our gifts.

We must not be discouraged about how God gifted us or didn’t gift us, or become prideful of our gifts and look down on others. This seemed to be happening in the Corinthian church. In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, Paul describes how God designed the body to work together, just as He is the Creator and the One who gives the gifts.

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body. If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. vs. 14-18

5. Learn to rely on others in the body.

Often God’s will is to not give us specific gifts but to give us specific people who can help us accomplish what He wants to do in the church and the world.

Certainly, we must recognize our weaknesses and others’ strengths and rely on them in those areas. At times, we should also pray for God to bring people to serve in the weak areas of our church.

Question: Has selfish ambition ever taken precedent in your life over the gifts of the Spirit? If so, how can you change that?